Moscow (agencies)
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced yesterday that Moscow is ready to discuss “serious proposals” to settle the conflict in Ukraine on the basis of “the existing reality” and Moscow’s security concerns.
She stated in a press briefing that Ukraine must pledge to remain a militarily neutral country in the future.
Russia’s conditions are similar to those that Ukraine has rejected many times before.
In another context, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said yesterday that Russian forces took control of 547 square kilometers of land in Ukraine this year in what he described as “new regions” for Russia, referring to 4 Ukrainian regions that Moscow said it had annexed.
Shoigu stated, in statements by senior army commanders, that Ukrainian forces are retreating along the front line of confrontation, and that Russian forces are penetrating what he described as the network of Ukrainian strongholds. He added, “Ukrainian army units are trying to cling to separate lines, but under our attack they were forced to abandon their positions and withdraw.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense said last Wednesday that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had ordered the delivery of more weapons and faster to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense quoted Shoigu as saying, in a statement: “To maintain the required pace of the attack… it is necessary to increase the volume and quality of weapons and military equipment provided to the forces, especially weapons.”
In this context, Russian presidential spokesman (Kremlin) Dmitry Peskov considered yesterday that French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements regarding the possibility of deploying forces in Ukraine were “extremely dangerous.”
Peskov added to reporters: “France, represented by the French head of state, continues to constantly talk about the possibility of its direct involvement on the ground in the conflict over Ukraine, and these statements represent a very dangerous trend,” according to the Russian “TASS” news agency.
In press statements the day before yesterday, the French President set two conditions for sending forces to Ukraine: the first, if a Ukrainian request is received in this regard, and the second is if the Russians penetrate the front lines, stressing at the same time that there is no request in this regard from Ukraine yet.
Macron said last March that he did not rule out that Paris would launch a ground operation in Ukraine at some point, but the United States and Britain refused to send forces to Ukraine.
In response to Macron’s statements, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said that it would be good for France to send soldiers to Ukraine.
France is said to have supplied Ukraine with equipment worth about 2.6 billion euros since February 2022.
Two people were killed yesterday in a Russian attack on the city of Kurakhov, located in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.
The head of the military administration in the region, Romain Badon, said: “Several high-rise buildings were damaged, two people were killed, and two others were injured.”
Kurakhov is located near the front lines in eastern Ukraine, 40 kilometers west of the city of Donetsk. Ukrainian forces are suffering in the face of Russian forces, which are pressing militarily to control the strategic city of Chasiv Yar.
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