Russia says peace initiatives to resolve the Ukraine conflict contain viable ideas. Ukraine's defense minister says the country, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have signed a joint declaration on the purchase of infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).
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| Russia-Ukraine situation: Promoting peace initiative, Moscow says it still needs more tanks; Kiev takes 'important step' in arms procurement. (Source: AFP) |
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the peace initiatives on resolving the Ukrainian conflict proposed by the countries contain feasible ideas.
“There are interesting ideas that can be implemented. There are ideas that are similar to our approach, including the Chinese initiative,” Zakharova said.
The main problem, Ms Zakharova stressed, is that the initiatives are being blocked by “the Kiev regime which forbids itself” from holding any talks with Moscow.
Besides, she said that Washington pursues the concept of complete domination in the world and strategically defeating Russia while only considering Ukraine as a tool to influence Russia and the region in general.
Meanwhile, on the same day, June 17, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called for the production of more tanks "to meet the needs of Russian forces" in Ukraine after Kiev launched a counterattack using Western weapons.
During a visit to a military plant in western Siberia, Minister Shoigu stressed the need to "maintain increased tank production" and more advanced security features in armored vehicles.
Mr Shoigu said this was necessary "to meet the needs of Russian forces carrying out a special military operation" launched by Moscow in Ukraine from February 2022.
Russia had earlier said Ukraine's counteroffensive had failed, but Kiev said it had retaken some localities and about 100 square kilometers of territory, mainly on the southern front.
Also on June 17, a statement by Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said that Russian air defense units had thwarted a previous Ukrainian attack on a pumping station of the Druzhba oil pipeline in the Novozybkov district of Russia's Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine.
On Telegram, Mr. Bogomaz wrote clearly that three Ukrainian military drones were destroyed in the attack in Novozybkov.
On the Ukrainian side, on June 17, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that his country, the Czech Republic and Slovakia signed a joint statement on the intention to purchase and maintain infantry fighting vehicles (IFV).
On his social media account, Mr. Reznikov wrote: "On the sidelines of the meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group (UDCG) with his Slovak counterparts Martin Sklenar and Czech Jana Cernochova, we signed a joint statement."
According to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, details of the agreement will be announced later, and he assessed this as an "important step" in cooperation between the three countries.
In late May, the Czech government announced that it had approved the purchase of 246 Swedish-made CV-90 tracked infantry fighting vehicles for CZK 59.7 billion ($2.72 billion).
On June 2, Czech Defense Minister Cernochova announced that his country and Slovakia plan to cooperate in the field of ammunition production.
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