Moscow rules out a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine and Kiev requests additional weapons from the West

Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Gennady Gatilov, predicted that the conflict in Ukraine would take a long time, and while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the trial of his country's prisoners by the Russians would eliminate any chance of negotiation, Kyiv requested additional weapons from the West.

In an interview published in the British Financial Times, Gatilov said that despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's efforts, there would be no direct talks between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

He added that he did not see the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine, expecting the conflict to continue for a long time.

The Russian delegate accused the United States and other countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of pressuring Ukraine to withdraw from the negotiations.

He considered that global diplomacy is at its worst, and that the United Nations has become mired in politicization, and will not return to what it was before, as he put it.

The statements of the Russian delegate come days after Russia warned the United States of escalation against it from Ukraine, following the frequent attacks on Russian targets in the Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. attacks.

Trial of prisoners

On the other hand, the Ukrainian president warned on Sunday evening that Russia might take a provocative step by prosecuting captured Ukrainian soldiers, coinciding with Ukraine's celebration of its independence day next Wednesday.

Zelensky added - in his daily speech - that such a trial will form the line beyond which there can be no possible negotiations between his country and Russia.

The Ukrainian president relied on media reports that Russia is preparing to subject the Ukrainian soldiers who were captured in the city of Mariupol (southeast of Ukraine) to a public trial coinciding with the independence of Ukraine.

Zelensky had warned that Russia could launch what he described as brutal attacks during Ukraine's independence day celebration.

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said that Russia may intensify its strikes on Ukrainian cities on August 23-24.

On August 24, Ukraine celebrates its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. But this year, this date marks 6 months since the Russian attack, which resulted in thousands of deaths and caused great destruction to this country.

Russian missiles and western weapons

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu downplayed the effectiveness of Western weapons used in the ongoing battles in Ukraine, and said that Russian experts in the military industry are studying foreign weapons obtained by Russian forces during the fighting.

In an interview with the first Russian channel, Shoigu revealed the use of "Kinghal" (dagger) missiles - which exceed the speed of sound 3 times - against what he described as important targets in Ukraine, noting that the Kinghal missiles cannot be intercepted, and have characteristics that no missile has. of this kind in the world

In 2018, the Kinzhal missile was successfully tested, during which it hit all its targets at a distance of up to 2,000 km, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

For his part, Yury Shvetkin, deputy head of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma, said that the West collects weapons of all kinds in Ukraine.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Shvetkin added that Russia has stronger weapons that achieve good results in the field.

On the other hand, Yury Sak, an advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, said that his country has received modern and high-precision Western weapons over the past two months.

Sak explained - in an interview with Al Jazeera - that Kyiv needs more weapons to confront the Russian arsenal, and at a faster pace, as he put it.

This comes at a time when the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea was subjected to a fourth attack in a month.

In the field as well, the battles continue in the Donetsk district of the Donbas region (eastern Ukraine), and on other fronts in the south, including Kherson, Zaporozhye and Mykolaiv, and the past days did not witness a significant change in locations, according to British intelligence.