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Military operation in Ukraine

Russian Duma speaker says West doesn’t want to be held responsible for defeat in Ukraine

Vyacheslav Volodin said the armed forces of Ukraine didn’t live up to the expectations in Washington and Brussels

MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Monday said that the West is showing it doesn’t want to be held responsible for a defeat in Ukraine by saying it’s up to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky whether to hold talks.

"A new rhetoric is coming out of Washington and Brussels: The issue of talks on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine depends entirely on Zelensky. Previously, they insisted on the opposite. They stated that the conflict should be decided exclusively on the battlefield. <…> They realized that there would be no victory with Zelensky. And they don’t want to bear responsibility for a defeat," Volodin said on Telegram.

Volodin said the armed forces of Ukraine didn’t live up to the expectations in Washington and Brussels. "Zelensky promised victory. The result disappointed the Western sponsors," the lawmaker said.

Volodin said the domestic political situation in the US and the European Union is forcing their officials to react. "Americans and Europeans began to express their position on the events in Ukraine. They are not willing to pay out of their pockets for the policy of war. <...>. Inflation, rising prices, problems with energy resources and other difficulties that have to be faced, can’t but worry them on the eve of winter," the Duma speaker said.

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