Kremlin debunks Ukrainian leader’s claim that the conflict will be over by Christmas says peace will be on Russian terms US Defence and State Departments disagree on deep strikes
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine will end when Moscow fulfills all the objectives of the special military operation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists during a briefing on Tuesday.
Peskov was responding to a claim by Vladimir Zelensky that “we are closer to the peace than we think” between Moscow and Kiev. “We are closer to the end of the war. We just have to be very strong, very strong,” the Ukrainian leader told ABC News earlier in the day.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that “any war, one way or another, ends in peace.”
However, he insisted that, for Russia, “there is absolutely no alternative to achieving the goals that it has set out for itself” in the conflict.
“As soon as those objectives are met, one way or another, the military operation will be concluded,” Peskov said.
A Russian serviceman carries a portable anti-aircraft missile system at a combat position in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic. © Sputnik / Stanislav Krasilnikov
The latter comment appears to suggest that Moscow would accept either military and diplomatic solutions to the conflict, which escalated in February 2022. Zelensky told ABC that his so-called ‘victory plan’, which he is currently promoting in the US, “is not about negotiation with Russia.” The scheme is aimed at “the strengthening of Ukraine, Ukrainian army and Ukrainian people. Only in the strong position we can push [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to stop the war [in a] diplomatic way,” he explained.
The Ukrainian leader, who addressed the UN’s Summit of the Future in New York on Monday, is set to present his plan to US President Joe Biden, members of Congress, and both presidential contenders, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The Sunday Times has reported that Zelensky’s initiative has four key clauses, including Western security guarantees for Ukraine similar to NATO’s principle of collective defense, the continuation of Kiev’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region to serve as a territorial bargaining chip, deliveries of “specific” advanced weapons by foreign backers, and international financial aid for Ukraine.
Ukraine has expected the US to have given the permission by now, two Kiev officials told the Washington Post on Tuesday. According to the Post, the current US administration is divided on the issue, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opposed to changing the policy and Secretary of State Antony Blinken siding with Kiev.
According to the Post, Ukraine has already used US weapons in Russia’s Kursk Region “in ways that stretch the previous rules of engagement,” but the US military believes that when it comes to ATACMS, the purported benefits “are not compelling enough to outweigh the drawbacks.”
The outlet also revealed that Kiev “has long been dependent” on receiving target coordinates for US-provided weapons “from US military personnel on a base elsewhere in Europe.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out this very fact earlier this month, arguing that the issue here is not granting Ukraine permission, but getting the US and NATO “directly involved” in open war against Russia. This would “significantly change” the nature of the conflict and force Moscow to “make the appropriate decisions,” Putin said.
Meanwhile, the US intends to announce a $375 million batch of military aid to Ukraine, AP reported on Tuesday evening citing anonymous sources in Washington. The package would include missiles for HIMARS launchers, cluster bombs for Ukrainian fighter jets, armored vehicles, bridging equipment, anti-tank missiles and other ammunition, which will come out of the US military stockpiles. By the Pentagon’s account, the US has provided Ukraine over $56 billion in direct military aid since February 2022.
Source X/RT/AP/SFP