Kremlin: Sooner or Later Europe to Wonder If Zelensky is Doing Everything Right

"Zelensky should understand that European countries that are trying to punish Russia, as they say, are already actively paying the bill for it. The countries themselves are paying the bill, and the citizens are paying the bill. And sooner or later these countries will also begin to wonder, ‘is Zelensky doing everything right, why do our citizens have to pay for his whims?’ So the Ukrainian side should be aware of this," Peskov said, TASS reported.

A manufacturing plant of Turkish combat drones Bayraktar will be a subject of immediate demilitarization if it opens in Ukraine, Peskov added.

"The fact of opening such facility, which will be definitely an immediate subject to the course of demilitarization, will only prolong the sufferings of Ukrainians but will in no way help to avoid the main objective of the special military operation," Peskov said speaking at a news briefing.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bondar stated on Monday that Turkish company Baykar Makina had purchased a land plot in Ukraine intending to build there a plant for the production of Bayraktar combat drones.

On July 19, the government of Ukraine passed a bill on the ratification of an agreement with Turkey on cooperation in the sphere of high technologies, the aviation and space sectors, which makes it possible to build a Bayraktar production and maintenance plant in Ukraine.

Turkey has been producing combat drones both for the needs of its armed forces and for exports in recent years. Today six countries are operators of Bayraktar TB2 combat drones: Azerbaijan, Qatar, Libya, Morocco, Poland and Ukraine. Turkish-made Bayraktar drones were employed in combat operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria and Libya.

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.

Peskov also said that Moscow has not yet received any specific proposals from Washington regarding the future of the New START treaty, which expires in 2026, or arms control in general, but a dialogue on this issue is necessary.

"Time will tell. We have not yet received any specific proposals on this matter. But we repeat once again: a dialogue in this area is necessary," Peskov said in response to a question whether Moscow was ready to submit its own proposals to Washington or was waiting for the US counterparts to take the first step.

Last week, US President Joe Biden issued a statement timed for the opening of a conference of countries participating in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the UN in New York. In particular, he said that the United States was ready to discuss with Russia a new arms control system that would replace the New START. Biden noted that "the health of the NPT has always rested on meaningful, reciprocal arms limits between the United States and Russian Federation".

He pointed out that "even at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were able to work together to uphold our shared responsibility to ensure strategic stability".

While commenting on this statement, Peskov drew attention to Moscow's repeated calls for beginning arms control negotiations as soon as possible, including those on the extension of the New START. But Washington, he said, de facto shows no interest in any substantive contacts.

Russia and the United States signed the New START in 2010. In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended it for the maximum possible term of five years, till 2026.