Four months after the attack on Ukraine, Russia has described relations with the West as long-term damaged.
“Yes, it will be a long crisis,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview with US television channel MSNBC that was broadcast on Tuesday night. “We will never trust the West again.” Since the beginning of its war against Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly raised accusations against Western states – for example because of military support for the country under attack.
Peskov also commented on the case of the two US soldiers who fought in the Ukrainian army and were recently captured by troops loyal to Moscow. These are mercenaries and therefore do not fall under the protection of the Geneva Convention, said Peskow.
The Kremlin spokesman left open whether the two men were captured by Russian soldiers or by pro-Russian separatists. This is also relevant in that the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have introduced the death penalty, while Russia has suspended it.
Asked if he could guarantee that the two US citizens would not face the same fate as three foreigners recently sentenced to death in Donetsk, Peskov said: “I can’t guarantee anything. That depends on the investigation.” Ukraine and the United Nations had heavily criticized the separatists’ handling of the two Britons and the Moroccan. The UN human rights office in Geneva spoke of prisoners of war who were entitled to protection.
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