The Kremlin has said it is willing to engage in peace talks with Russia but will stick to its demands.
“Russia is ready to move swiftly. The most important thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear, obvious, they have not changed. But the process does not depend on us alone," the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 20. Peskov reminded Russia’s conditions for peace, including abandonment of Ukraine’s NATO aspirations and withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Russian-annexed regions, the conditions that have been vehemently rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
Peskov’s remarks came days after US President Donald Trump warned Russia to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days or face “severe tariffs” and announced a plan to send advanced weapons, including Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine. Trump made the remarks on July 14 in the presence of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Despite US-set deadline to speed up peace negotiations, Russia has ramped up its long-range air raids targeting Ukrainian cities, including with the use of ballistic missiles. In apparent response to relentless Russian attacks and as part of renewed US military aid to Ukraine, Germany announced on Monday that it would deliver to Ukraine five US-made Patriot air defence systems with the support of the White House. Speaking to the Ukraine Defence Contract Group, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorious said on Mondy that Berlin and Washington have agreed to send Patriots to Ukraine and that these advanced systems would be delivered “as soon as possible”.
