Peskov stressed the need to fully control the territories annexed by Russia in 2022 (Reuters)

The Kremlin acknowledged on Friday that Russia is at war in Ukraine because of Western intervention in support of it, after two years of avoiding using that description. It also warned the European Union against imposing tariffs on grain and using frozen Russian assets.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained to a Russian newspaper that the attack on Ukraine was tantamount to a "military operation" for Russia, but the full Western support for Ukraine turned the military operation into a war for Moscow.

Peskov stressed that the West must understand that Russia currently considers itself in a state of “war,” without clarifying what this means and entails.

Peskov also said that Moscow needs to have full control over its new regions to ensure the safety of people there, referring to the four Ukrainian regions that Russia annexed in 2022, namely Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson.

Kiev says that this annexation constitutes an illegal seizure of territory, and that it will not rest until every Russian soldier is expelled from its territory. It is also determined to restore the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

EU warning

After European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the leaders of member states agreed in principle to grant revenues from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine and impose heavy duties on Russian grain, within the framework of the sanctions regime on Moscow, Peskov warned the European Union against this.

The Kremlin spokesman said that European consumers would suffer as a result of imposing customs duties on Russian grains.

He added that the bloc would face consequences that he described as “very serious” if it went ahead with using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.

Today, the European Commission proposed heavy customs duties on Russian agricultural products imported into the European Union, which are currently largely exempt, to deprive Moscow of a source of revenue to finance its war on Ukraine.

European Commissioner for Trade Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis explained that these duties will not include Russian grain that passes through another European Union country.

Source: Agencies