Russia rejects peace talks, Slovakia halting aid to Ukraine
Moscow calls the one-sided peace talks counterproductive.
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Moscow calls the one-sided peace talks counterproductive.
Russia on Thursday criticized Ukrainian-backed peace talks set to be held in Malta this weekend, as Slovakia moves to stop military aid to Kyiv.
"Obviously such gatherings have absolutely no perspective, they are simply counterproductive," foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.
She added the upcoming meeting had "nothing to do with the search for a peaceful resolution" and criticized Malta for hosting what she called a "blatantly anti-Russian event."
The talks, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will drum up support for his own peace plan, come after similar gatherings in Jeddah and Copenhagen earlier this year.
Zelensky has been promoting his own 10-point peace plan, which calls for Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine's internationally recognized borders, including Russian-controlled territories.
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The head of Ukraine's presidential office Andriy Yermak said he was optimistic about the meeting, and that around 60 countries had confirmed their attendance.
"This meeting is a powerful signal that unity is preserved around Ukraine," he said on Ukrainian television.
Russia — which claimed to annex the four Ukrainian regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia last September — has rejected any settlement that would involve giving up land.
Reversal of backing
Meanwhile, Slovakia's new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said Thursday that he "informed" the European Union's executive of his decision to stop military aid to Ukraine, the first such Western reversal of backing for Kyiv.
On Thursday, Fico said he had spoken to the head of the European Commission about his government's move at a meeting before the bloc's summit in Brussels.
In a Facebook post, Fico said Ursula von der Leyen respected "the sovereign right of member countries to support Ukraine militarily or not, and she appreciated our position on humanitarian aid."
Earlier on Thursday, Fico told Members of Parliament that the country would "no longer supply weapons to Ukraine", but would still supply humanitarian aid to its war-torn neighbor.
"I will support zero military aid to Ukraine… An immediate halt to military operations is the best solution we have for Ukraine. The EU should change from an arms supplier to a peacemaker," he added.
In Washington, the United States defense department on Thursday announced a new $150 million (141 million euro) military assistance package for Ukraine that includes artillery and small-arms ammunition as well as anti-tank weapons.
The latest package "utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine during prior fiscal years," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The package also includes air defense missiles, night vision devices, demolitions munitions and cold weather gear.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US for the military assistance in a post on social media.
