Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to derail peace talks

CNA

5 days ago

MOSCOW: Russia said Tuesday (May 27) that its massive aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent days were a "response" to escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to "disrupt" peace efforts.
Moscow, which has repeatedly rejected proposals from Kyiv and its Western allies for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Friday and early Monday, killing more than a dozen people and saturating the country's air defences.
US President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to broker an end to Moscow's three-year offensive, said Vladimir Putin had"gone absolutely CRAZY" and threatened Russia with sanctions over the attacks.
Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting have accelerated in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks for the first time in three years earlier this month.
But Putin has been accused of stalling peace talks and the Kremlin has shown no signs of scaling back its maximalist demands.
"Kyiv, with the support of some European countries, has taken a series of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Russian air defences destroyed 2,331 Ukrainian drones between May 20 and 27, more than half of which were intercepted in areas outside the battlefield, the ministry said.
"Civilians, including women and children, were injured," it said, describing its recent strikes on Ukraine as a direct "response".
"At the very least, we can say that these actions by Kyiv are inconsistent with efforts towards a peace process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Moscow said it had only hit "military targets" in Ukraine but Ukraine said at least 13 civilians were killed in Russian attacks on Sunday.
Russia's full-scale military offensive on Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and ravaged large parts of the east and south of the country.
EVERYONE IS "EMOTIONAL"
Kyiv accused Russia of trying to evade responsibility for the killings.
"We need to end this eternal waiting - Russia needs more sanctions," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Tuesday on Telegram.
For three of the past four nights, Russia pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones in what Kyiv described as a weekend of "terror".
Moscow fired fewer drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday but strikes still damaged buildings in the northern Sumy region and hurt multiple people in the regions of Kherson and Kharkiv, officials said.
In a rare rebuke of Russia's Putin, Trump said on social media late Sunday Washington time: "I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"
The Kremlin played down Trump's criticism on Monday, saying Putin was taking measures "necessary to ensure Russia's security" and that everyone was feeling "emotional" at the moment.
KREMLIN WARNS WEST
Ukraine and Russia sent back 1,000 people each over the weekend in their biggest ever prisoner exchange, while Moscow said it was preparing a document outlining its peace terms following their talks in Istanbul.
But that document was still not ready on Tuesday, despite Russia announcing it would present it to Ukraine once the prisoner swap was complete.
Moscow has consistently rejected a call by Kyiv and its Western allies for an unconditional and full ceasefire, and has called for Kyiv to drop its NATO ambitions and cede territory it already controls.
"As soon as the memorandum is ready, it will be sent to Kyiv. We hope that the Ukrainian side is doing the same," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Istanbul would be a "very good" location for future talks, after the Turkish city hosted previous negotiations earlier this month.
Tensions between Europe and Russia spiked this week after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Ukraine's key Western backers had dropped range restrictions on arms sent to Kyiv.
His comments triggered confusion over the West's policy, and on Tuesday, he said his remarks were not an announcement but referred to a process that had been "happening for months."
The Kremlin warned on Monday that any new decision to drop range limits was "at odds" with reaching a peace settlement and would be "quite dangerous".