Russia could use the Ukraine talks to rearm, and therefore NATO countries need to treat Moscow’s position with caution, the alliance’s deputy secretary-general Mircea Joane told LBC.
“Russia cannot be trusted. Even if they start talking about peace sooner or later, it will not be about peace as such, but about a truce for rearmament and subsequent return,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
At the same time, the Kremlin noted earlier that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande confirmed that for their countries the Minsk agreements were a screen for preparing for a scenario of force in Donbass.
Thus, in December 2022, Merkel called the Minsk agreements an attempt to give Ukraine time to “become stronger.” She noted that today’s Ukraine in military terms is “no longer what it was in 2014-2015.”
Putin said Russia had done everything possible to peacefully resolve the situation around Donbass, but it had been “led around by the nose.” He also noted that he was disappointed by the statement of the former German chancellor.