Ukraine will 'pay a price' for strikes on Russia: Kremlin

Ukraine will have to pay a price for its strikes on Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned about the consequences.

“This is also something the president has spoken about -- Ukraine will have to pay a price for the actions that have taken place in recent months,” he said, adding: "Our armed forces continue the special military operation and consistently strike targets they consider appropriate.”

Peskov added that Russia’s national interests include ensuring its security, saying Moscow must prevent plans announced in Kyiv to launch a “crushing strike” on Russia.

Asked about the state of talks between Russia and the US on arms control, Peskov said Moscow believes negotiations should resume as soon as possible.

“Arms control negotiations need to be resumed, as they say, yesterday, because the treaty and legal framework in this area is now completely bare,” he stressed.

The official emphasized that the issue was highly complex and would require “long and painstaking expert negotiations,” meaning the process would likely take considerable time.

As for China’s possible participation, Peskov said Beijing had previously stated that it did not consider participation necessary or possible because its nuclear arsenal was not comparable to those of Russia and the US.

“At the moment, we are not aware of any changes in the position of our Chinese friends on this issue,” he said.

Commenting on the resignation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Peskov said Russia’s relations with this Balkan state would continue to develop across various areas.

“Relations between Russia and Serbia stand much higher than simply relations with individual personalities,” he noted.

Turning to the recent meeting between the Russian and German foreign ministers, Peskov described it as “a positive development,” adding that it would be wrong to draw conclusions about imminent changes in bilateral relations.

“The very fact that such a meeting took place is positive, of course. We have always said that having dialogue is always better than having none,” he stressed.

The spokesman added, “Even when bilateral relations tend toward zero, it is still better to communicate with each other,” and cautioned against drawing “conceptual conclusions” about imminent changes in ties.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met his German counterpart on Sept. 26 for the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers since January 2022.