Kremlin discusses volunteers, sanctions and Meta's incitation of violence

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Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was not talking about Russian citizens when he proposed to send volunteers to Ukraine. The Russian defense minister said as many as 16,000 people from countries in West Asia are ready to come to the aid of the people of Donbass

"Sergey mainly talked about those people who applied from the Middle East and Syria, respectively, there was no talk about our fellow citizens," Peskov said.

The spokesperson also commented on what was meant by the strengthening of Russia’s borders, to which he replied that this is not connected with the border closure, but that Western countries are increasing their “power potential near our borders.” 

“This requires us to take action,” Peskov said.

As for the possibility of a Putin-Zelensky meeting, Peskov said that no one is ruling out the possibility of such a meeting. He asserted that it is possible in theory; however, delegations and ministers must do their part so that both presidents do not meet there for the sake of having a conversation, but rather “meet for the result.” He further highlighted that the talks have so far not proven effective, but that they need to continue.

US sanctions pressure on Russia can go on for a long time 

Regarding the US’ sanctions on Russia, Kremlin’s spokesperson said that the United States may stick to this policy for a long time and that these restrictions may continue to be imposed regardless of Russia’s operation in Ukraine.

"More or less knowing our counterparts overseas, we can imagine that they can continue these sanctions aspirations for a long time. Actually, they have been doing this for many, many decades already. And [they] would have continued it both in conditions of the special operation in Ukraine and without it," he told reporters.

Peskov also said that he is not aware if President Putin had a meeting with the former chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder, this week. Politico had reported that Schroeder was in Moscow to meet with Putin in an effort to mediate an end to the conflict.

"I have no information regarding Schroeder. I can't say anything," Peskov said.

As for the situation with Meta and its decision today to allow content in a number of countries, and not just Ukraine, inciting violence against Russian soldiers and calls for death against Russia’s President, Peskov said that Russia will investigate if Facebook and Instagram allowed publications of calls for violence against Russians, adding that it will be necessary to ban these applications if they indeed allowed hate speech.

"This is information that really requires very, very careful confirmation and study. I don’t want to take Reuter’s word for it, because it’s very difficult to imagine. Our relevant departments will find out if this is really the case. And let's hope it's not. Because if so, the most decisive measures will follow to suppress the activities of this company," Peskov told reporters.