Russia threatens even tougher war if NATO sends new weapons to Ukraine

Moscow has threatened this Friday that the war in Ukraine and its tension with the West will worsen if NATO helps kyiv with more weapons to defend itself against Russian aggression.

While raising the tone of its response, the Kremlin dismisses the impact these European weapons could have on the battlefield.

"We consider all this an open provocation by the West and an increase in the stakes in the conflict, which will inevitably lead to an increase in casualties and a dangerous escalation," said the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zajárova, commenting on the Allied summit in the German city of Ramstein, where the sending of Leopard main battle tanks to kyiv has been discussed.

This debate has closed with Germany's refusal to send the battle tanks and the postponement of any decision in this regard.

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The representative of the body headed by Sergei Lavrov stressed that Moscow's objectives – to keep Ukraine under its control – have not changed.

“The tasks set out in the special operation to denazify and demilitarize the current kyiv regime, and eliminate the most serious threats to the security of our country and its citizens within Ukrainian territory, remain relevant and will be fulfilled,” Zajárova said.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry made these statements on the same day that its Armed Forces announced new advances in eastern Ukraine, not confirmed by kyiv.

A week after the Russian government claimed to have taken the town of Soledar, the Russian army claimed to have taken Klishchiivka, another neighboring town in the Bakhmut area.

Zajárova ruled out any negotiations under kyiv's current claims.

The press secretary of the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, recently pointed out that the talks would be possible if they abide by international law.

The Russian foreign spokeswoman criticized that this formula contains "demands to bring Russia to justice and punish it."

For his part, Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, belittled this Friday the allied support for Ukraine.

"Experts are aware of the problems these deliveries create because the tanks must also be repaired," said the representative of the Russian president, referring to the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have never had Leopard tanks until now.

“We have repeatedly said that such deliveries will not be able to change anything, but will create more problems for Ukraine,” Peskov added.

The Kremlin spokesman repeated his speech that support for kyiv only causes "an upward spiral" in tension with the West, and stressed that Russia will insist on its military pulse until the end.

“We see a compromise [in the West] with the tragic delusion that it is possible for Ukraine to have some kind of success on the battlefield.

This is a tragic hoax by the Western community that will be regretted more than once."

Peskov pointed out that the only way out of the current confrontation is for the West to meet the demands that Moscow made to NATO before the war, including the expulsion of all its members from Eastern Europe to return to its 1997 configuration. They must listen to Russia's concerns, they must rewind the tape [to the end of 2021], when Russia proposed to discuss their fears at the negotiating table and was totally rejected," Peskov insisted.

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