Ukraine warns of the risk of talks with Russia collapsing

“The risk of peace talks collapsing is very high“, Interfax quoted Mr. Zelensky as saying.

The Ukrainian leader also praised President Biden’s offer of additional aid to Ukraine on April 28. The package is nearly 10 times the amount of aid that Washington has provided since Russia’s military campaign began on February 24.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers hoped to pass a $33 billion aid package “as soon as possible”.

Russia and Ukraine have not participated in any face-to-face peace talks since March 29, but only exchanged online. The atmosphere between the two sides has escalated in recent times.

In a statement commenting on the progress of the negotiations on April 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of not being an “honest” negotiator.

“I believe we have conducted these negotiations in good faith, unlike the representatives of Ukraine, who are constantly changing positions. They are constantly making conflicting statements with each other these days. day after day“, said Mr. Lavrov.

The Russian foreign minister blamed the deadlock on negotiations between the two sides because of Ukraine’s dependence on countries such as Britain and the United States.

The Russian-Ukrainian fighting has entered its ninth week. Ukrainian officials say Russia is stepping up its offensive into eastern and southern Ukraine, while Moscow has warned of retaliation for any further intervention from the West.

In the interview with Al ArabiyaLavrov reaffirmed Kiev’s earlier statements that Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine will end as soon as its objectives are achieved.

“This campaign will be complete as soon as the objectives are accomplished and achieved”, Mr. Lavrov commented.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the objective of the Russian operation has been stated publicly, which is to defend the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, to ensure that there is no threat to the security of the people of these countries. this place as well as ensuring the security of Russia from the territory of Ukraine.

Lavrov also stressed that foreign arms shipments to Ukraine were all legitimate targets of attack, meaning Russia could attack. According to him, these are weapons used by the Ukrainian government against the people of the eastern part of the country.