Russia calls visit by leaders of France, Germany and Italy to Kyiv empty symbolism

Russian officials on Thursday dismissed the visit by the leaders of France, Germany and Italy to Kyiv as empty symbolism, and argued that Western arms deliveries would only prolong the fighting. Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian ex-president who is vice chairman of President Putin’s Security Council, disparaged the three leaders as “European connoisseurs of frogs, liverwurst and pasta. ”
He gave his assessment on Twitter of how things would play out: “They promised EU membership again and old howitzers, had some Ukrainian vodka shots and took the train home, like 100 years ago. ” He added, “It’s just that this doesn’t bring Ukraine any closer to peace. And the clock is ticking …” Russian officials insist they will achieve their war aims no matter how many weapons Ukraine receives. Earlier, Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, had said he hoped that the EU leaders’ would “not only concentrate on supporting Ukraine via pumping it full of weapons. This is pointless and will only extend people’s suffering. . . Instead, we’ll hope that they will use their contacts to move President Zelensky toward looking at the real state of things. ”