Kremlin claims Kyiv delaying peace talks due to US arms supplies
IRYNA BALACHUK – WEDNESDAY, 1 JUNE 2022, 13:50
Dmitriy Peskov, press secretary to the President of the Russian Federation, claims that the US arms supply agreements are not conducive to Kyiv’s "willingness to resume peace talks."
Source: RIA Novosti, Russian Kremlin-aligned news agency
Quote from Peskov: "The US is deliberately pouring oil on the flames by agreeing to supply arms to Kyiv. The US appears to be holding the line on fighting Russia until the last Ukrainian soldier falls. These supplies [of American weapons - ed.] are not conducive to [fostering] the Ukrainian government’s willingness to resume peace talks."
Details: Peskov added that the meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia "has not been ruled out a priori," but "must be arranged and finalised according to a document, the preparation of which has stalled."
Background:
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine believes that only negotiations with President Vladimir Putin of Russia could be productive, and that talks with other representatives of the Russian Federation do not hold any value.
- In a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on 28 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to continue negotiations with Ukraine.
- Later on, Serhii Nikiforov, press secretary to the President of Ukraine, said that President Zelenskyy was not ruling out the possibility of three-way telephone negotiations with the presidents of Turkey and Russia.
- US President Joe Biden said that the US will continue sending aid to Ukraine and will provide rocket systems and munitions, but does not want to prolong the war or pressure the Ukrainian government into making any territorial concessions.
