Russia says West enter talks on Ukraine, recognize current realities

MOSCOW: The secretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergei Shoigu said Thursday the West faces a “choice” of either entering talks with Moscow on Ukraine or continuing the “destruction” of its population.

Shoigu spoke a day after Donald Trump — highly critical of US aid to Kyiv — won the US presidential election, raising questions over long-term support for Ukraine.

Moscow has advanced rapidly on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine in recent months.

“Now when the situation in the theatre of combat is not in Kyiv’s favour, the West is faced with a choice: to continue financing (Kyiv) and the destruction of the Ukrainian population or recognise the current realities and start negotiating,” Shoigu, Moscow’s ex-defence minister, said.

He spoke at a meeting of a military alliance of ex-Soviet states.

Shoigu also said that the “collective West is losing its economic, political and moral leadership” and that Western hopes for a Russian defeat had “failed.”

Russia hopes the West will tire of supporting Kyiv militarily.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that it would judge Trump on his “actions” on the Ukraine conflict, with the Republican repeatedly promising a swift end to the conflict if he took office.

Trump has lambasted the billions of dollars of aid that the US has sent to Ukraine.

Shoigu was Russia’s defence minister during most of the Ukraine offensive but was removed by President Vladimir Putin in May and replaced with economist Andrey Belousov.