The Kremlin assured this Thursday that the visit of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyto the United States is proof of the lack of “willingness to listen to Russia” and that Washington is waging a “proxy war” in Ukraine against Moscow.
In his first international trip since the start of the invasion, Zelensky was treated as a hero in Washington on Wednesday, where he met with his counterpart. Joe Biden at the White House and delivered an applauded speech to Congress.
The Ukrainian head of state also got the promise of a massive aid package of nearly $45 billion and new arms deliveries that will include the Patriot air defense system for the first time.
“Until now, we can note with regret that neither President Biden nor President Zelensky have said anything that could be seen as a possible willingness to listen to Russia’s concerns,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters.
According to Peskov, in this visit there have been no “true calls for peace” or “warnings” from the United States to Zelensky against “the continuous bombing of residential buildings in populated areas of Donbas”, a region of eastern Ukraine partly controlled by separatists. pro-Russian and often targeted by Ukrainian forces.
“This shows that the United States continues in its de facto and indirect war line with Russia,” added the Kremlin spokesman.
On Wednesday, after learning of Zelensky’s trip, Peskov warned that the delivery of US arms to kyiv “leads to an aggravation of the conflict and does not bode well for Ukraine.”
However, Zelensky defended in Washington that this aid, essential for his troops in the conflict, is “an investment in global security and democracy.”
In recent months, Russian troops suffered several military setbacks and were expelled from the Kharkiv region (northeast) and the city of Kherson (south).
Attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure
Since October, Moscow has changed its strategy and opted for massive bombardments of basic Ukrainian infrastructure, which has deprived millions of people of electricity, water or heating.
These blackouts affected kyiv, where the energy situation remained “difficult” on Thursday, according to the head of the capital’s military administration, Sergei Popko.
The American Patriot system must “significantly” strengthen the defense against this type of attack, Zelenski assured.
For his part, at a meeting on Wednesday to set the army’s priorities for 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin also vowed to strengthen Russia’s military capabilities, including nuclear ones.
It also announced the entry into service “in early January” of new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles and an increase in army strength to 1.5 million troops.
His Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, assured that Russian troops will fight “the combined forces of the West” and revealed that they plan to install backup bases for their fleet in Mariupol and Berdyansk, two occupied cities in southern Ukraine.
The minister went to the “front line” of the front to inspect the Russian positions and the conditions of personnel and material, his department said without specifying the place or date.
On the ground, fighting and shelling continued on Thursday with at least one dead and 14 wounded across the country in the last day, the Ukrainian presidency said.
On the Russian side, the former head of the Roscosmos space agency, Dmitri Rogozin, reported that he had been injured in a Ukrainian attack on a hotel in the Moscow-controlled Donetsk region and had to undergo surgery.
The Russian investigative committee said this attack, which killed and wounded others, was “probably” carried out with a French Caesar artillery gun, delivered by Paris to kyiv. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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