Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Vladimir Putin’s historic speech yesterday.
In a message to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and made many other important statements. The press secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov, spoke in an interview with TASS about the procedure for suspending the START Treaty and the prospects for Russian-American contacts, and he also answered other current questions.
When asked by a journalist, from what moment does the Russian Federation stop participating in the START Treaty, he answered: “Based on the fact that this agreement was once ratified by the Russian parliament, it will require parliamentary approval. That’s not a withdrawal, that’s a suspension. The president especially emphasized that it is a matter of suspension, but that it should be formalized in this way through the parliament.”
Did Moscow warn Washington in advance that Putin would make such an announcement? Peskov answered briefly: “No.”
On the subject of plans for future talks with US President Joe Biden, Peskov answered negatively. “No, you and I heard the first reaction to this decision by Mr. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the first reaction by Mr. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. No contacts planned yet”he said.
The journalist asked if the “hot line between the Kremlin and the White House”, created after the Caribbean crisis, continues to function? Can leaders use it at any time?
Peskov replied: “Of course, they can use it if they want. But there were no such situations. A new foreign policy concept can be expected in the coming days.”
President Putin’s message also mentioned this topic – the Minsk agreements. In light of the recent statements of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former French President Francois Hollande and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, is the Kremlin also ready to open wide the curtain on how those negotiations took place in Minsk? Maybe publish, declassify the transcript – who said what, what did Merkel say, what did Hollande say? Or is it still a secret?
“We almost never do that, and we won’t do it now either. Then nobody revealed the details. Merkel, Hollande and Poroshenko simply said that they don’t take these documents seriously and that these documents are a cover for Ukraine to properly prepare for war. is all. In contrast, President Putin did a lot and made a lot of efforts to implement these agreements and force the Ukrainian side to fulfill its obligations. But, unfortunately, we now understand that it was impossible at that time.
(WORLD)