Ryabkov pointed to the US choice of an arms race due to the rejection of the START

The United States has chosen an arms race, abandoning its initiatives on the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty (START), and is also yielding to European influence on the issue of a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. This was announced on July 6 by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

"The United States has refused to work on the implementation of our pragmatic initiative on voluntary compliance with the central restrictions of the START Treaty, which formally expired on February 6. In fact, we have seen quite bravura statements in connection with the "demise" of this treaty, and it seems that the choice is being made in favor of an arms race," TASS quoted him as saying.

Ryabkov added that progress on arms limitation issues can be made only on the basis of building equal and mutually respectful relations between the two powers.

The Deputy Foreign Minister also drew attention to the fact that Washington is increasingly moving away from peacemaking rhetoric on the topic of the Ukrainian settlement, yielding to the influence of European states.

"In Ukraine, the European members of NATO, as well as Canada, are deliberately and non-stop fomenting an armed conflict, pumping weapons into the regime and providing it with financial and political support. The war Party, represented by the ruling circles of Britain and Germany, France, as well as the leadership of the European Union and NATO, are trying to win over the Americans," he said.

Ryabkov also pointed out that the United States actually took the position of the Europeans at the G7 summit in Evian, France. According to him, they demonstrated agreement with their European colleagues on all fundamental issues of the settlement.

According to the diplomat, Washington's position will be fully clarified after the NATO summit, which is taking place in Ankara these days.

"We will wait for the results of the NATO summit, see what the American administration will formulate, and then it will become clearer. There is still a big question mark," he concluded.

Mentor the bloc: NATO approaches the summit in Turkey weakened

How are the leaders of the alliance going to resolve internal disputes and find common ground on Ukraine

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on July 5 that Putin and Trump discussed the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine during a telephone conversation on the occasion of Independence Day in the United States, including taking into account the upcoming participation of the American leader in the NATO summit in Turkey on July 7-8. The American president reiterated his willingness to continue contributing to the end of the Ukrainian crisis.

On July 3, during a meeting on the liberation of Konstantinovka, Putin said that the real goal of the "imaginary European peacekeepers" was not peace, but the continuation of the conflict with the Russian Federation to the last Ukrainian. In addition, the head of state called the statements of the Ukrainian leadership about non-existent successes on the battlefield "bravura." In his opinion, such statements disorganize both Kiev itself and the countries supporting it, which, as Putin noted, "plays into the hands of Russia."