Russia urged the US

Moscow (dpa) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, has urged the United States to pressure Ukraine to accept Moscow’s conditions for an end to the ongoing war.

The U.S. has the necessary influence, Ushakov said in remarks to state television on Sunday. “Precisely to that end, we call on our American colleagues. This is what is now necessary,” he said without specifying the actions he wished Washington to take.

Moscow has long called for a halt to Western arms deliveries to Ukraine and for Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled this out.

This weekend, Zelenskyy said the U.S. was insisting on a Ukrainian withdrawal from the region in return for U.S. security guarantees. He has in the past rejected this.

The U.S. could pressure Ukraine by halting deliveries of air defence missiles, and Kiev fears arms could be rerouted to the Middle East. Zelenskyy said that this had not yet happened.

The Ukrainian president recently toured the Middle East, signing agreements on military cooperation. Ukrainian drone experts are in the region assisting with warding off Iranian drone attacks.

Separately, Zelenskyy called for a resumption of talks between Kiev and Moscow with U.S. mediation, regretting the fact that the U.S. negotiators were not leaving the U.S. during hostilities with Iran. Moscow has declared its willingness to hold renewed talks.