MOSCOW: A Kremlin spokesperson on Tuesday said that Moscow will follow closely a NATO summit about to open in Washington, attended by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, told the media that Russia would follow “with the greatest attention… the rhetoric at the talks and the decisions that will be taken and put on paper”. The spokesperson said NATO “is an alliance that considers Moscow an enemy, an opponent”.
NATO “has often declared its aim to impose a strategic defeat on Moscow on the battlefield” and “is taking part directly in the war in Ukraine on the side of Ukraine”, he remarked.
NATO Summit
Arming Ukraine’s air defences is likely to top the agenda at the summit marking NATO’s 75th anniversary, following missile strikes on Monday hit a children’s hospital in Kyiv and killed around 38 people. The summit will focus on establishing a comprehensive framework to enhance Kyiv’s military readiness while also addressing NATO’s strategic interests on Russia’s southern flank. This area has gained significance due to its role as a crucial trade route for Moscow since the commencement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Representatives from more than 40 organizations and non-member states, including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and others engaged through NATO’s Partnership for Peace initiative, will participate in various sessions of the summit.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, official media reported, in a trip the European leader has branded as a “Peace mission 3.0” following recent visits to Kyiv and Moscow.
The unannounced trip comes a day before NATO is due to hold a summit, with setbacks in Kyiv set to dominate talks, and follows Orban’s surprise visits to Ukraine and Russia in the past week.
Russian President Putin told Orban, that Ukraine must withdraw its forces from regions that Moscow has annexed if it wants peace in the region. Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency at the start of July, and the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated Orban’s visit to Moscow was purely a bilateral matter and he “has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Russia”.
