Killing of Russian general may complicate Trump’s peace effort in Ukraine — US expert
"While it's uncertain whether or not the President-elect will directly address this incident, he has been clear in his recent comments on ATACMS strikes inside Russia that he opposes actions that may lead to a heightening of tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the run-up to potential peace talks," the analyst said
WASHINGTON, December 18. /TASS/. The bombing attack that killed Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov will potentially complicate Ukrainian peace effort for President-elect Donald Trump, a US expert who asked not to be named has told TASS.
"The killing of Lt Gen Kirillov is likely to prompt a Russian response <…> that may lead to a new round of escalation further complicating the incoming administration's effort to reach a negotiated settlement," the expert said.
"While it's uncertain whether or not the President-elect will directly address this incident, he has been clear in his recent comments on ATACMS strikes inside Russia that he opposes actions that may lead to a heightening of tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the run-up to potential peace talks," the analyst added.
Earlier, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev described the attack as "the agony of the Banderite regime" and as the Kiev government’s attempt "to justify its shaky existence in the eyes of its Western patrons and prolong the deadly hostilities." He also said that the Kiev regime had admitted its role in plotting the terrorist attack.
In the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter exploded near the entrance of a residential building on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow. Kirillov, 54, and his aide were killed in the blast. The Russian Investigative Committee classified the explosion as a terrorist attack.
US President-elect Donald Trump attacked the outgoing US leader Joe Biden's move to allow deeper missile strikes inside Russia as wrong and stupid in a press conference on December 16. He described at "a bad thing" that "did a lot of bad things." "I don't think that should have been allowed," Trump went on to say, speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "Certainly not just weeks before I take over."
The president-elect said he wasn’t asked to weigh in on the decision. Trump said he would have acted differently and could reconsider the decision when he takes office.