Kremlin says US has bombed civilians for long, has no right to lecture Russia

Russia says the United States with its long history of bombing civilians around the world has no right to lecture Russia, denouncing as “inexcusable” US President Joe Biden’s claim that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal.”

Biden on Wednesday condemned Putin for his military operation in Ukraine, telling reporters that the Russian leader “is a war criminal,” a controversial comment made by the White House for the first time publicly that drew a harsh response from the Kremlin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday lashed out at Biden’s “rhetoric” as “impermissible, unacceptable, and inexcusable,” stressing that Washington has no right to lecture Russia after the US’s long involvement in so many conflicts across the world.

“The United States has long bombed civilians and used nuclear weapons in Japan at the end of WW2 – so the US president has no right to lecture Russia,” Peskov said.

Putin announced a “special military operation” on February 24 aimed at the “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, largely populated by ethnic Russians, in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, the two regions – collectively known as the Donbas – declared themselves new republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government.

The US and its European allies have labeled the military offensive as Putin’s imperial-style land grab, saying it has so far been poorly executed because the Kremlin underestimated Ukrainian resistance and Western resolve to punish Russia with unprecedented waves of sanctions.

Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations since the beginning of the ongoing operation with the latest bout ending late Tuesday and Kiev pointing to “fundamental contradictions.”

Russia putting ‘colossal effort’ into peace talks

Commenting on the peace talks between the two countries, Peskov said Russia was putting colossal energy into talks on a possible peace deal with Ukraine that could immediately halt the war.

“Our delegation is putting in colossal effort and demonstrates more readiness towards them than the other side,” he said, adding that “Agreeing such a document, the observance of all its parameters and their implementation could very quickly stop what is happening.”

Russia denounces as 'unacceptable and unforgivable' Biden's 'war criminal' comment

Russia has slammed US President Joe Biden for calling Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "war criminal," denouncing the comment as "unacceptable and unforgivable."

Earlier in the week, the Financial Times reported that Kiev and Moscow had achieved significant progress on a tentative peace plan. Peskov, however, denied that.

“It is not right – there are elements there that are right but on the whole it is incorrect,” he said, stressing that the Kremlin will announce progress when there is progress to report.

Russia: Air defense systems for Ukraine destabilize situation

In another development on Thursday, Russia said giving Ukraine air defense systems, as requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an address to the United States Congress a day earlier, will destabilize the situation.

“Such deliveries ... would be a destabilizing factor which will definitely not bring peace to Ukraine,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a press conference, adding, “In the long term, they could have much more dangerous consequences.”

Ukraine has for years aspired to join NATO — one of the reasons Russia launched the military campaign against its neighbor. Three weeks into the war, Zelensky said on Tuesday that his country would not be joining the alliance. Since 2019, joining NATO has been enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution.

The US and its allies strive to prevent NATO from being drawn into the Ukraine conflict, but at the same time, they have supplied Kiev with military aid since the beginning of the war.

Moscow says its main objectives are to destroy Ukraine’s military capabilities and capture dangerous nationalists in the European country.

NATO to ‘reset military posture’ in response to Russia-Ukraine war

NATO defense ministers tasked military commanders to come up with measures to bolster the alliance’s forces in Europe at an emergency meeting due to the “new reality” ushered in by Russia-Ukraine war.

Ukraine wants security guarantees as part of any Russia peace deal

Also on Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country wants Turkey to be among countries offering security guarantees to Kiev as part of any deal with Moscow to end the war.

Speaking after a meeting with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Kuleba said Turkey was also helping to set up direct talks between Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been deteriorating since 2014, when Crimea voted in a referendum to fall under Russian sovereignty. The US and the European Union supported Kiev and refused to recognize the referendum results, later imposing sanctions on Moscow. They denounce the move as annexation. Moscow rejects the allegation.

Kiev says the Donbas region and Crimea were part of Ukraine when it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and since February 24, Zelensky has repeatedly said that he would not compromise on Ukraine’s “territorial integrity.”

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelensky, said on Thursday that the Ukrainian president’s “main position has not changed.”

“We will never give up our national interests,” Arestovych stressed.

Since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and the military alliance has no formal obligation to intervene to stop the war. But Ukraine is bordered by four NATO members: Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Further north, Russia borders the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – all of which are NATO members.

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