Zelensky’s visit to Washington: ‘Unwilling to listen to Russia’

The Kremlin on Thursday condemned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “unwillingness to listen to Russia” after a visit to the United States where he received fresh aid promises, evidence to Moscow that Washington is waging a “covert war” in Ukraine.

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During the trip, his first abroad since the start of the Russian offensive in February, Mr. Zelensky was received as a hero in Washington, speaking with Joe Biden and giving a speech to applause from American lawmakers.

The Ukrainian head of state has promised a massive support package of nearly $45 billion plus new arms deliveries and the first-ever delivery of the Patriot anti-aircraft defense system.

“So far, we can note with regret that neither (US) President Joe Biden nor President Zelensky has said anything that could be considered a possible option to listen to Russia’s concerns,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Thursday.

Mr. According to Peskov, there were no “genuine calls for peace” or US “warnings” during the visit, against “continuing bombardment of residential buildings in populated areas of the Donbass,” an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists and regularly targeted by Ukrainian forces.

“This shows that the US is continuing its practical and covert war with Russia to the last Ukraine,” the Kremlin spokesman added.

On Wednesday, the day Volodymyr Zelensky visited the United States, the Kremlin warned against further U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine, which could “exacerbate” the conflict.

Mr. Zelensky told him that Western aid to his country, which has become a key part of the conflict, is “an investment in global security and democracy” and “not charity.”

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Military reinforcement

Russia has suffered major setbacks on the ground in recent months: its forces have been pulled out of the Kharkiv region in the northeast and the city of Kherson in the south.

In response, Moscow has opted for the tactic of massive bombing of Ukrainian infrastructure since October, depriving millions of people of electricity, water and heat in the middle of winter.

The cuts particularly affected the capital, Kiev, where the energy situation remained “difficult” on Thursday, according to Serguiï Popko, head of the city’s military administration.

Mr. According to Zelensky, the patriotic organization provided by the United States should precisely strengthen Ukrainian defenses against Russian attacks.

Setting out his military priorities for 2023, Vladimir Putin pledged to continue strengthening Russia’s military capabilities, including nuclear capabilities.

He announced that new Russian hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles would enter service “in early January” and planned to increase the Russian military’s manpower to 1.5 million soldiers.

Its Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, meanwhile assured that Russian troops were fighting “combined forces of the West” and expressed Moscow’s desire to establish bases to support its navy in Mariupol and Berdyansk, two cities seized from the south. Ukraine.

Mr. Shoigu also went to inspect Russian positions in Ukraine, his ministry said Thursday, without specifying the location or date of the visit. He had already visited the area of ​​operations a few days earlier, a sign of Moscow’s desire for closer control over its troops there.

On the ground, fighting and shelling continued Thursday, according to the Ukrainian president, leaving at least one person dead and 14 wounded across the country over the past day.

On the Russian side, Dmitri Rogozine, the former boss of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, was injured in a Ukrainian strike at a hotel in Donetsk, a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, and required surgery.

According to Moscow, the strike, which killed and wounded several others, was “probably” carried out using French Caesar artillery, many of which were supplied to Kiev by Paris.

The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, currently undergoing repairs in the Far North, has suffered a fire that caused no casualties, Russian press agencies said.