MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it would take time to clarify what weapons the United States is supplying and will supply to Ukraine after President Donald Trump said Washington would have to send more arms to Kyiv.
Trump said on Monday that the United States would send more weapons to Ukraine, primarily defensive ones, to help the war-torn country defend itself against intensifying Russian advances.
When asked about Trump’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were many contradictory statements about U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine, though it was clear that European weapons deliveries were continuing.
“Obviously, supplies are continuing, that’s clear. Obviously, the Europeans are actively involved in pumping Ukraine full of weapons,” Peskov said.
“As for what kind of supplies and in what quantity Ukraine continues to receive from the United States, it will still take time to clarify this definitively,” he added.
Russia, which is advancing at various points along the front, currently controls just under a fifth of Ukrainian territory including Crimea, all of Luhansk, the lion’s share of three other regions and slivers of three additional regions.
Peskov said that Moscow appreciated Trump’s efforts to initiate direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and that there was significant potential for restarting Russian-U.S. trade and economic relations.
“But at the moment, the United States is implementing a number of restrictions. We believe that these sanctions are illegal, and they harm not only our entrepreneurs, but also the entrepreneurs of the United States,” Peskov said.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Guy FaulconbridgeEditing by Andrew Osborn)
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