Russia’s objectives in Ukraine can only be achieved through military means given Kiev’s position, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
“We have to achieve our goals. At the moment this can only be done by military means because of the current position of the regime in Kiev,” justified Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency, in a press conference.
Peskov said Kiev must accept the “new reality” that emerged after Russia launched a “special military operation” on February 24, 2022, if it wants an end to the conflict.
Do not forget that last year Russia formalized the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, which it partially occupies: Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia. An annexation not recognized by Kiev and its Western allies.
The spokesman for the Russian presidency said Moscow’s position on ending the conflict is “well known”.
“The situation and the new reality are also well known. Without taking into account this series of problems, the transition to a peaceful agreement is impossible,” Peskov assured.
A condition that was rejected by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who only accepts peace agreements when Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.
By the way, in an interview with the BBC last February, the Ukrainian head of state ruled out the possibility of the country ceasing territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.
“Modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands,” Zelensky told the BBC in an interview marking a year of war.
Russia will refuse to recognize International Criminal Court cases
Also on Tuesday, Peskov announced that Russian authorities rejected the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), guaranteeing that this will be the country’s stance if a case is brought against Moscow for war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia “does not recognize this court,” said Dimitry Peskov, adding that “Moscow will approach the matter in this way” in any trial in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
Quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency, Peskov also stressed that the ICC ignored civilian deaths “at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists” before the invasion and after the outbreak of armed conflict in 2014 in the Dovbass region of eastern Ukraine.
“For years, no international court, not even those not recognized by Russia, nor other members of the international community, has bothered to address the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the deaths of civilians at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists in Donbass,” he criticized. the Kremlin spokesman.
The US newspaper The New York Times reported today that the ICC will launch two lawsuits for alleged war crimes against Russia in the context of its invasion of Ukraine, with several arrest warrants being issued.
According to the newspaper the cases are specifically related to the alleged “kidnapping of Ukrainian children” and the “deliberate attack on civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine.
The New York Times cites ICC sources regarding “the latest decisions,” which are not identified because they cannot speak publicly on the matter.
These are the first international allegations since February 24, 2022, the date of the new invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and, according to the newspaper, are the result of the work of war crimes investigation teams.
The investigations lasted for several months and focused on “the abduction of Ukrainian children and adolescents” and those sent to “Russian re-education camps”, in addition to deliberate attacks on civilian equipment.
Prosecutor Karim Khan, of the ICC, must first present the case to the investigating judges and the investigators are still collecting evidence so that later, when they collect the alleged evidence, any arrest warrants can be issued.
The Kremlin denies the war crimes allegations, but according to news published today, international and Ukrainian investigators have “gathered solid evidence of a series of atrocities from the first day of the invasion,” February 24, 2022.
With Lusa
Source: DN
