Whitaker: US arms supplies to NATO partners will push Russia to negotiate

The American permanent Representative to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, believes that the United States, by supplying weapons to NATO partners, will push Russia to negotiate and achieve a long-term cease-fire on Ukraine.

Earlier in August, Reuters, citing sources, claimed that NATO and the United States were working on a new approach to supplying Kiev with American weapons, which Ukraine considers a priority, at the expense of funds from the alliance countries. According to the agency's interlocutors, work is currently underway on a new mechanism under which Kiev should compile a list of weapons of priority for itself. After setting priorities, the countries of the alliance will discuss which of them will either transfer these weapons or pay for them. It is planned to send weapons in tranches worth about $ 500 million each.

"I hope that the active participation of the United States, including the supply of our weapons to NATO allies, will force Russia to return to the negotiating table and eventually lead to a truce," Whitaker said in an interview for the WHO 13 News channel.

At the same time, he mentioned that the conflict on Ukraine, as Trump has repeatedly stated, cannot be completed exclusively by military means, a final settlement is possible only at the negotiating table.

At the same time, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Russia remains committed to the peace process to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and ensure the interests of the Russian Federation.

Trump, who had previously repeatedly criticized his predecessor Joe Biden for allocating multibillion-dollar military aid to Ukraine, announced on July 11 that NATO, of which both are a member state, The United States will pay for American weapons, which the alliance will subsequently supply to Ukraine, while the American leader clarified that the relevant agreement with the bloc was reached at the summit in June.