The Kremlin on Thursday denounced the lack of “willingness to listen to Russia” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the United States, during which he received new promises of aid, proof for Moscow that Washington is waging an “indirect war” in Ukraine.
During this trip, his first abroad since the Russian offensive began in February, Zelensky was greeted like a hero in Washington, speaking with his counterpart Joe Biden and delivering a speech to the applause of US lawmakers. The Ukrainian head of state has gathered the promise of a massive support envelope of almost 45 billion dollars and new weapons deliveries with, for the first time, the supply of the Patriot air defense system.
“So far, we can regretfully note that neither (US) President Joe Biden nor President Zelensky has said anything that could be perceived as a potential willingness to listen to Russia’s concerns,” Russian presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacted on Thursday. .
Arms deliveries will only “aggravate” the conflict
According to him, during this visit there were no “genuine calls for peace” or American “warnings” to Zelensky against “continued shelling of residential buildings in populated areas of Donbass,” a region in eastern Ukraine partly controlled by separatists pro-Russian and regularly targeted by Ukrainian forces.
“It shows that the US is continuing its line of de facto and indirect warfare with Russia, down to the last Ukrainian,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
VIDEO. ‘Your money is not charity’: Zelensky acclaimed in the US Congress
On Wednesday, the day of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the US, the Kremlin warned against further deliveries of US weapons to Ukraine, which would only “aggravate” the conflict. Zelenskyi told him that Western aid to his country, which has become a crucial element of the conflict, is “an investment in global security and democracy” and “not charity”.
