“NATO continues to impose a war on Ukraine until the last Ukrainian,” – said Russian deputy Chepa

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, by dismissing the current peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as unserious, is effectively pushing Ukraine to continue the war “to the last Ukrainian.”

This view was expressed by Alexey Chepa, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

“NATO continues to impose war on Ukraine until the last Ukrainian. They speak of negotiations only from a position of strength — from the standpoint of Ukraine launching more terrorist acts or delivering major blows to the Russian Armed Forces. Only then, they say, can negotiations happen. Otherwise, Europe is not interested,” said Chepa.

Earlier, Rutte stated that the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul were not serious, and that NATO is instead focused on continuing military aid to Kyiv.

According to him, NATO wants to ensure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position once serious negotiations actually begin.

On June 23, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the date for a new round of negotiations with Ukraine could be determined this week. On June 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Moscow’s proposal for new talks “a potential attempt to delay economic sanctions.”