Peskov says West misjudged Ukraine’s ability to resist Russia

Views expressed in the West that Ukraine had the potential to withstand pressure from Russia were based on a mistaken assessment.

Operative Information Center-OMM reports that Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the statement.

According to the report, Peskov said some people in the West still held this mistaken position. “It would also have been a major mistake to claim earlier that Ukraine allegedly had the potential to withstand pressure from Russia. These were completely erroneous perceptions. Some people still hold this mistaken view,” he said.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell called on Ukraine to maintain its policy of rejecting territorial concessions and to intensify strikes against Russian territory. On Sept. 4, Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position on talks to resolve the conflict in Ukraine had been made public two years ago and remained unchanged. The Kremlin spokesperson emphasized that Russia was ready to move toward a diplomatic settlement of the conflict.