IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

Russia has made fresh demands for Ukraine to destroy all of its Western weaponry as the price of peace.

Alexander Grushko, a Russian deputy foreign minister, said: “All these surpluses must be destroyed. All international algorithms are known. They must be reduced, disposed of, and guaranteed.”

His ultimatum is the latest in a series of maximalist demands tabled by Moscow in talks over the end of its three-year invasion.

Previously, Russia has insisted that Kyiv cuts the size of its armed forces, withdraws its troops from four partly-occupied eastern regions and recognises Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea before any ceasefire.

It has also argued that Russian should be restored as an official language and that Ukraine should agree never to join the Nato military alliance or host any foreign troops on its territory.

The demands have been tabled during two rounds of face-to-face negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul – the first since failed peace talks in the early months of the war.

Ukrainian officials have described the Russian requests as unacceptable, and blamed them for any lack of progress towards an unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington and Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has been corralling European allies to help him convince Donald Trump, his US counterpart, that the demands demonstrate Russia’s desire not to end the fighting.

But these efforts have failed, with deadlines set by Mr Trump for Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire having passed without any reprisals.

Mr Zelensky is expected to hold talks with the US president at a meeting of G7 leaders in Canada. Before departing Kyiv, he said he would be pressing for further economic sanctions against Russia and the purchase of US weapons.

While Washington has refrained from new military support for Kyiv, Mr Grushko’s comments can be seen as an effort to curtail any future sales of high-end hardware.

He claimed, without citing credible evidence, that corrupt Ukrainian officials were selling donated Western weapons on the black market, adding: “It’s crazy how reckless some politicians are, still flooding the market with weapons.”

It is an argument frequently used by Kremlin propagandists and their allies in the West, but independent researchers and Ukraine’s allies have found that Kyiv overwhelmingly uses the weaponry to defend itself against the Russian invasion.

It is likely that the fresh demands will be tabled after June 22, with Putin promising Mr Trump that he was prepared for another round of negotiations with Ukraine.

The latest demand from Moscow came as Kyiv said Russia had returned 1,245 bodies to Ukraine, the final stage of a deal to repatriate more than 6,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers which was agreed at peace talks this month.

Russia and Ukraine reached a deal on a large-scale exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed soldiers, the only visible result from two rounds of direct talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

The government agency coordinating the repatriation said: “Another 1,245 bodies returned to U

Yahoo.com