Russia confirms that it does not intend to attack NATO countries, and Ukraine calls for pressure on China news

Russia confirmed on Tuesday that it does not intend to attack any of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries or Europe, while Ukraine called on the United States to pressure China to reduce its support to Moscow, stressing its need for material support to continue the fighting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is ready to consolidate its intention to attack NATO countries or Europe with security guarantees.

But he added that NATO’s expansion did not stop for a moment despite all the commitments, indicating that the West does not hide its preparations for a major European war, as he described it.

He expressed his hope that US President Donald Trump would remain committed to settling the conflict in Ukraine based on the Alaska summit that brought together US and Russian President Vladimir Putin last August.

Regarding the negotiations, the Kremlin said that the cessation of the negotiation process regarding Ukraine was due to Kiev’s unwillingness to continue the process, he said.

Demanding European support

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that Kiev needs European financial support to continue fighting against Russian forces for another two or three years.

“I reaffirmed this to all European leaders,” Zelensky said in statements published on Tuesday. “I told them that we will not fight for decades.”، “But you have to show that you can provide stable financial support to Ukraine for some time.”

“So, they have this program in mind, two to three years,” he added, referring to a European Commission proposal to gradually release frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine.

“If the war ends within a month, we will spend this money on recovery. If it does not end within a month, we will spend it on weapons. We simply have no other choice,” Zelensky added.

Zelensky acknowledged that Russian forces entered the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine and was considered an important railway center in the past, noting that Moscow has been trying to control it for more than a year.

The Ukrainian president also urged his American counterpart to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping to reduce his support for Russia when the two presidents meet later this week.

Trump imposed sanctions on two Russian oil companies last week, and urged countries that buy Moscow’s vital energy exports, specifically China and India, to reduce purchases that Washington and Kiev say finance Russia’s war.

Last week, European Union leaders entrusted the European Commission with the task of moving forward with financing options for Ukraine for an additional two years, leaving the door open for a huge loan that uses tens of billions of euros of Russian state assets that the bloc has frozen.