Following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s historic visit to the United States, the Kremlin has accused the US of launching a proxy war against Russia.
The Ukrainian president enjoyed a hero’s welcome on his lightning trip to Washington on Wednesday, with his US counterpart Joe Biden committing to providing Kyiv with $1.8bn-worth of military equipment, including the highly-sought after Patriot missile defence system.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the latest US support package which comes on top of some $50bn already sent to Ukraine this would not help end the more than 300-day-long conflict.
Peskov added that there had been no calls for peace or signs of willingness to “listen to Russia’s concerns” during Zelenskyy’s visit, proving that the US was intent on fighting a proxy war with Russia “to the last Ukrainian”.
His remarks came as Russian news agencies reported that defence minister Sergei Shoigu had visited army units fighting in Ukraine. The reports did not specify where the visit took place.