Kremlin: Ukraine being provoked by Europe into waging war

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that European countries are pressing Ukraine to continue the war against Russia.

"They still think, the European countries, that they can defeat Russia strategically," Peskov said in an interview published by the Swiss magazine Weltwoche on Tuesday.

This, he said, was "the biggest mistake ever," adding that European backing has left Kyiv unable to be flexible.

The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin described developments in Europe, which is currently rearming on a massive scale, as a process of transformation.

Peskov criticized the use of taxpayers' money for rearmament, calling it "a brainwashing of European taxpayers."

He categorically rejected European fears that the war in Ukraine could escalate into a third World War. "Russia is too big and too responsible a country to be the initiator of a third World War," he said.

Peskov added that while Russia and the US did not have good relations at the moment, they were sensible enough to continue talking to one another.

In the tensions resulting from the war in Ukraine, Peskov saw many similarities with the political circumstances of the 1930s.

"The militarization of Europe worries us," he said, while expressing hope for a new generation of European politicians.