A pigeon flies in front of the Kremlin鈥檚 Spasskaya tower (L) and Saint Basil鈥檚 cathedral (C) in Moscow on March 1, 2023. AFP
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Kyiv鈥檚 position means Russia鈥檚 goals in Ukraine can only be achieved by military force, Russian state news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
鈥淲e have to achieve our goals. Right now this is only possible by military means due to the current position of the Kyiv regime,鈥� Peskov said.
Russia claims it is fighting in Ukraine to 鈥渓iberate鈥� Russian speakers in the eastern Donbas from what it has called a neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.
Ukraine and the West say this is a baseless pretext put forward to justify a war of aggression and Moscow鈥檚 attempts to seize swathes of Ukrainian land.
Moscow has blamed Kyiv for a breakdown in talks about a ceasefire, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will only consider peace settlements after Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.
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