Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A Russian government spokesman warned Russians against viewing recent steps towards Ukraine by the government of U.S. President Donald Trump through “rose-tinted spectacles”.
During a speech at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against people getting enthusiastic about the prospect of Elon Musk disconnecting the Ukrainian military from his Starlink communication network or Trump’s decision earlier this week to stop military aid to Kyiv.
“Don’t rush to put on rose-tinted spectacles,”
He told the audience.
“We always need to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. And we must always be ready to defend our interests.”
Peskov gave his warning as U.S. officials scheduled to meet with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia later on Tuesday, in part to decide whether Ukraine is ready to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.
He stated that Russia was achieving its purposes on the battlefield in Ukraine, regardless of what actions the U.S. was taking. Peskov stated the amount of weapons spreading in Ukraine was so large that Kyiv had sufficient to keep fighting for many months despite the halt of U.S. deliveries.
What challenges lie ahead for restoring U.S.-Russia relations
A day earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the process of restoring ties between Moscow and Washington is still in its “initial stages.”
“We are at the initial stage of the path to restoring our bilateral relations. The path ahead is quite long and difficult,”
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow, saying that the presidents of both countries voiced “political will” in this regard.
Peskov, however, denied media statements that top Russian and US officials will gather in Saudi Arabia this week, portraying them as “not true.” On Sunday, CNN reported that top officeholders from the Trump administration will separately talk with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, in a bid to reach an agreement between the two warring nations.
The spokesman stated everyone, including the US, expects Ukraine to show a desire to make peace, saying:
“What matters here is what the US expects.”
