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To strike a nerve: Kiev strikes 3.5 thousand targets in the Russian Federation every week
Ukraine strikes 3,500 civilian targets in Russia every week, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia. One of the objectives of the Ukrainian army is a dam in the Belgorod region. According to the diplomat, Kiev uses such attacks to create pressure on the Russian Federation against the background of renewed negotiations on the settlement of the conflict this year. At the same time, the White House still does not give specifics on the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, which was previously planned in Budapest. Moscow still expects Washington to comply with the Anchorage agreements. Why Kiev is not going to a dialogue and whether it is worth waiting for the Russian-American summit on Ukraine in the near future — in the Izvestia article.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces began to hit civilian targets more often
Ukrainian troops carry out 3,500 strikes against civilian targets in Russia every week, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
— Our activation occurred around July, and the number of strikes that we mark weekly reaches about 3.5 thousand. Over the past week, we have had more than 3,300 arrivals. We are talking exclusively about civilian facilities, and not about any military or dual-use facilities," he said.
In particular, Ukrainian troops are trying to damage the Belgorod reservoir dam. As a result of such attacks, the facility was damaged, and several houses in the region were flooded. Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of the Belgorod Region, said that if the dam is destroyed, there will be a threat of flooding of several streets of settlements where about 1,000 people live.
— In this case, it is a direct violation of international law, an international convention that prohibits the use of man-made and dangerous natural objects to cause damage primarily to the civilian population. Ukraine uses man—made hazardous facilities to achieve its goals, regardless of the consequences," stressed Miroshnik.
According to him, in the last month, Kiev has begun to strike energy facilities more often. The main targets were power substations in the Belgorod region and the Lugansk People's Republic. As a result of the strikes, from 100 to 150 thousand people were left without electricity. About three weeks ago, the Ukrainian Armed Forces also began hitting gas stations in order to provoke a shortage of fuel and lubricants.
Ukraine creates a backdrop for negotiations
Strikes on civilian infrastructure are used as pressure, they should create a certain background in the context of ongoing political events, Miroshnik stressed. Ukraine, despite its rhetoric about peace, is trying to inflict maximum damage to civilians and facilities in Russia.
— If we compare, for example, July and September, the number of [strikes] increased by about a third. We associate this with attempts to reach agreements in negotiation formats. It was just on July 23rd, the third meeting in Istanbul and the last to date. Then there was the Alaska summit, followed by the high-level week of the UN General Assembly. And for all this, such a harsh background of strikes on the border territories was created," Miroshnik noted.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky calls such strikes "long-range sanctions," Andrei Klintsevich, head of the Center for the Study of Political and Military Conflicts, told Izvestia.
— Their goal is to destroy infrastructure, factories, logistics, everything that can be reached by long—range drones. Ukraine is also trying to do this with missiles, but FPV drones are flying along our borders. This is their pressure on us, an attempt to destroy everything that is possible, because they cannot defeat us at the front," he said.
After the resumption of the negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine in May this year, three meetings of delegations took place in Istanbul — on May 16, June 2 and July 23. The Ukrainian delegation insisted on a truce along the front line before concluding a peace agreement. Moscow claimed that Kiev was using the pause in hostilities to regroup.
Negotiations on Ukraine have moved to the Russian-American plane. On August 15, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met in Alaska. As a result, Washington briefly consolidated at the level of rhetoric Moscow's demand to conduct peace talks without stopping the fighting, but after a while Trump returned to the usual pan—European consensus - first stop the fire, then everything else.
On October 16, on the eve of the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to the Oval Office, Trump held telephone talks with Putin. Following their results, he announced the holding of the Russia–USA summit in Budapest and abandoned the idea of transferring Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Later, US Vice President Jay D. Vance explained that the final decision on the transfer of missiles had not yet been made.
The new summit was planned to be organized within two weeks from the moment of the conversation, that is, until October 30. As part of its preparation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a telephone conversation, after which everything was suddenly canceled.
When will the Russia-USA summit take place
Andrey Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, is sure that different participants of the summit have their own ideas about the timing of its holding. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would like to hold it as early as possible, as this would strengthen his domestic political position before the upcoming parliamentary elections, which will be held in the spring.
— Trump probably would also like to hold a summit sooner. Maybe the deadlines are not so tight for him, but he would like, as he says, to stop this conflict in the coming weeks," said Kortunov.
On November 7, Orban visited the United States for talks with Trump. As Western media described the meeting, the Hungarian prime minister tried to persuade Trump to return to the idea of a face-to-face meeting with Putin and again offered Budapest as a venue. The head of the White House said that "there is always a chance" and that he would "like to hold a meeting in Budapest." At the same time, Orban acknowledged that the summit rests on "several unresolved issues" between the United States and Russia.
This is confirmed by the statements of Moscow and Washington. At the level of rhetoric, the Budapest summit has not been canceled, but at the moment there is no question of holding it.
— No one wants to waste time, neither President Trump nor President Putin. These are two presidents who are used to working efficiently and with high efficiency. Efficiency always requires preparation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The emphasis is more on fully preparing this summit, Kortunov added. This is necessary so that it is not about a truce, but about the settlement of the conflict as a whole. The meeting of the leaders in Alaska showed that if there is political will, such a meeting can be organized very quickly.
The main issue in the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is its future status, says Kortunov.
— It seems to me that despite the importance of territorial issues, the main thing is the future status of Ukraine, that is, the changes that we usually formulate in terms of "denazification" and "demilitarization." So far, Trump, apparently, is not inclined to agree to any changes in the future political system of Ukraine or impose any restrictions on the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the expert noted.
At the same time, the United States now seems to be more preoccupied with the issue of resuming nuclear testing. On October 30, Trump publicly stated that he had ordered the "immediate resumption of nuclear weapons testing," citing the actions of Russia and China. His words at the level of rhetoric violated the 33-year—old moratorium on nuclear weapons testing by the United States - Washington conducted the last nuclear bomb explosion in 1992. Western media called this a possible reversal in the nuclear policy of the White House. On November 4, it was reported that Moscow had requested clarification from Washington in this regard. On November 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States had not yet given an answer.
— Now we are waiting for confirmation from the United States that the Anchorage agreements remain in force. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that despite their compromise nature, we have not and do not abandon the fundamental points for us. And the Americans understand this," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
At the same time, Moscow also expects actions from the American side on the issue of concluding the START Treaty, the head of the ministry added. Russia is ready to adhere to the restrictions under the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty for a year after February 5, 2026, if the United States reciprocates.
Anyway, the date of the Russian-American summit, at which the parties could discuss, among other things, the issue of denuclearization, has still not been set.
If the Russian offensive in Donbass reaches its goal and the Russian army reaches the borders of the Donetsk region, then there will be more grounds for such a meeting, Kortunov believes. During this time, something may change in Washington. In particular, if the United States agrees with Russia's position that a peace agreement should include restrictions on the Ukrainian army, it will also increase the chances of holding a summit.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
