MOSCOW: Russia is always ready to respond to any threats from NATO, a Russian lawmaker said, commenting on NATO Secretary General Mark Ru...
MOSCOW: Russia is always ready to respond to any threats from NATO, a Russian lawmaker said, commenting on NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul are "not serious business."
"What does the NATO 'strategist' mean when saying that he hopes for 'serious talks'? As it is customary with the West, they don’t stake on political and diplomatic mechanisms but on coercion by force," Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), wrote on his Telegram channel.
"Russia has and will always have a proportionate response to any threat from the alliance," he stressed, adding that the talks in Istanbul are "a real opportunity to stop hostilities, save people’s lives and achieve a sustainable settlement."
The lawmaker also noted that the situation on the battlefield keeps on worsening for the Kiev regime and in such an environment Vladimir Zelensky’s echoing Western politician who say that the talks are "not serious" would be "a shot in the foot of the Kiev regime."
"NATO’s bravado will not be able save the Ukrainian regime which has embarked on a path of armed Russophobia and neo-Nazism and triggered a self-destruction mechanism this way," Slutsky added.
Following two rounds of talks in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a prisoner exchange based on a "1,000 for 1,000" format, as well as the swap of wounded and seriously ill detainees, along with soldiers under 25, under an all-for-all arrangement. On June 9, 10, 12, and 14, Russia repatriated four groups of its servicemen from Ukraine and handed over an equal number of Ukrainian soldiers to Kiev.
Additionally, the Russian side transferred 6,060 bodies of Ukrainian troops to Kiev and received 78 bodies of Russian soldiers in return.
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