MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia would require a halt to U.S. and European arms supplies to Ukraine during any potential ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with ABC News.
“Otherwise it will be an advantage for Ukraine. Ukraine will continue their total mobilisation, bringing new troops to (the) frontline,” Peskov said.
“Ukraine will use this period to train new military personnel and to give a rest to their existing ones. So why should we grant such an advantage to Ukraine?”
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Russia and Ukraine on Friday to “get this stupid war finished”, as he pushed for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine says it is willing to agree to.
But Peskov, in the interview, restated Russian concerns that Putin had made public as far back as March 13 and set out in a phone call with Trump on March 18.
“A ceasefire was supported by President Putin, but he asked several questions. He said that right now we have certain dynamics on the front, Russian troops are advancing, and advancing in quite a confident way,” he said.
“So if we speak about ceasefire, what are we going to do with shipments of weapons coming every day from the United States and from European countries?”
His comments underlined the lack of any shift in Russia’s position on a ceasefire since mid-March. During that time Trump, who previously had applied intense pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has shown growing impatience with Russia and questioned whether Putin was “tapping me along”.
Peskov denied that was the case, and said it was Ukraine that was refusing to enter direct negotiations.
“President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means. But having no peaceful and diplomatic means at hand, we have to continue the military operation,” he said.
Russia hoped that mediation by Trump would help to bring “a little bit more flexibility, a little bit more political will and wisdom to the Kyiv regime”, Peskov said.
Putin declared a brief Easter ceasefire last month, which both sides accused each other of violating countless times, and another three-day pause this week as Russia marks the 80th anniversary of victory in World War Two. Ukraine did not agree to the latest truce, saying it wanted a halt of 30 days or more.
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
