Russia: Encouraging Kiev to negotiate with Moscow is the best help the West can give to Ukraine

According to Sputnik’s IRNA report, Polyansky said on Friday night: “I think the best support that Western countries, including the United States, can provide to Ukraine is to encourage the leaders of Kiev to start meaningful and serious peace negotiations with Russia regarding the terms of the ceasefire.”

Russia has repeatedly criticized the West for sending billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, noting that this has increased tensions and only prolonged the conflict.

According to IRNA, at the end of April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia sent a note of protest to NATO countries about sending weapons to Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also announced that any shipment of weapons to Western countries sent to Ukraine will be a valid target for the Russian armed forces.

On February 21, 2022 (March 2, 1400), Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in the Donbas region, criticizing the West’s indifference to Moscow’s security concerns. On February 23 (March 4) and just one day before the start of the war in Ukraine, the Council of the European Union approved the first package of sanctions against Russia in response to this action.

On Thursday, February 24 (March 5, 1400), Putin also launched military operations against Ukraine, which he called “special operations”, thus turning the tense Moscow-Kiev relationship into a military confrontation. The war in Ukraine, with all its widespread political, military, economic, social and even cultural consequences, is in its fifth month.