Kremlin says Ukraine conflict will end when West takes Russia seriously

LONDON – The Kremlin said on Friday that the conflict in Ukraine would end when the West took action over Russia’s repeatedly raised concerns about the killing of civilians in eastern Ukraine and NATO enlargement eastwards.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked by reporters how the crisis could end, set out Russia’s position and said he believed that Ukraine was discussing Moscow’s demands with the United States and other allies.

“Russia formulated concrete demands to Ukraine to resolve those questions. As far as we understand, those demands are being discussed by the Ukrainians with their advisers, primarily the United States and European Union countries,” he said.

“Lets hope. That needs to be done. Then it will all end,” Peskov said according to Reuters.

Russian officials do not use the word “invasion” and say Western media have failed to report on what they cast as the “genocide” of Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine. The West has repeatedly dismissed such concerns.

President Vladimir Putin says the “special military operation” in Ukraine is essential to ensure Russian security after the United States enlarged the membership of NATO up to Russia’s borders and supported pro-Western leaders in Kyiv.

Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence while the United States, and its European and Asian allies have condemned the Russian invasion. China has called for calm.

“We over the past eight years have repeatedly tried to ask our Western colleagues to put pressure on Kyiv – and to force Kyiv – to stop killing its people on Donbass and to fulfil the Minsk agreements,” Peskov said.

“Also, for the past several decades, our country has repeatedly raised how we feel in danger after you moved your military infracture in our direction. We don’t like it and we feel in danger and we can’t close our eyes to it: so why are you doing it? There were no answers.”

“We need to find a resolution to these two questions. Russia formulated concrete demands to Ukraine to resolve those questions,” Peskov said.