Kremlin: Washington “not focused” on Ukraine due to Gulf tensions

The United States is currently preoccupied with escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf and is not focused on advancing a settlement in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, July 15.

“We see that the Americans are now busy with other matters. To our common regret, the situation in the Persian Gulf region is far from stable and, on the contrary, has again entered a phase of deterioration, which cannot but cause such global concern. Therefore, the Americans are currently not focused on the Ukrainian settlement,” Peskov said, according to TASS.

He added, however, that through communication channels Russia is receiving signals that the United States is ready to continue work on the Ukrainian track after resolving issues around Iran, and expressed regret that the situation in the Persian Gulf is far from stable and has again entered a phase of deterioration.

Peskov also dismissed reports that Russia had sent messages to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić during the latter’s visit to Kyiv, saying no such communication had taken place.

Separately, he rejected claims by Lithuanian officials that Russia could be preparing provocations in Poland or the Baltic states to test NATO unity, describing the allegations as “another batch of scare stories.”

“This is precisely another batch of such scare stories in order to continue brainwashing and prepare the population for further militarisation. (...) For this, it is necessary to create the image of an enemy in some other country — in this case ours — and under this pretext, as we say, to continue pulling NATO military infrastructure into the Baltic states in all its manifestations,” he said.

Commenting on reports that Latvia is considering banning the use of the Russian language in the press, Peskov said: “The only possible reaction here is condemnation. (...) It is impossible not to condemn this, because the rights of a huge number of the country’s residents are being infringed. (...) This is not a new policy of the Latvian authorities. They have long shown hatred toward everything Russian and Russian-speaking; this is their constant characteristic. Here one can only express complete rejection.”

By Tamilla Hasanova