The press officer of the Presidency expressed regret on the fact that Moscow could not dialogue with ‘the forces in Ukraine with a more weighted, more balanced approach’, to which ‘the courts only issue extensions of their arrests’.

Regarding Kiev’s positions against Russia, the official described as ‘absurd’ the accusations of the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, who described the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany as a threat to the security of Europe.

Peskov considered Ukraine’s continued aspiration to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Washington’s willingness to assess the issue as a real ‘immediate threat’ for his country.

He recalled that before Zelensky’s demands to join NATO, the United States had agreed to it, although Ukriane was asked to first comply with certain conditions and then they would wait for them ‘with open arms.’

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that a possible future encroachment of NATO’s military to Russia’s borders constitutes an immediate threat to the country.

In Peskov’s view, the recent meeting in Washington of the Ukrainian president with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, was an extension of the project to turn Ukraine into anti-Russia.

pgh/llp/oda/mml