Lavrov called Blinken’s statement about negotiations on Ukraine strange
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a strange statement about negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the air of the Vesti program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
“I read this statement. It’s really strange,” he said (quote according to TASS).
Lavrov noted that the first step for possible negotiations should be the cancellation of the decree of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on the refusal of negotiations with Moscow. According to the minister, the longer Kyiv delays this process, “the more difficult it will be to negotiate later.”
9/11 Blinken statedthat Kyiv will take part in the negotiations if Moscow shows such an initiative. He also added that Washington will follow Ukraine in this matter. Commenting on Blinken’s statement, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov denied assertion that Moscow is unprepared for negotiations. According to him, Russia “constantly, through the mouth of President Putin, speaks of its readiness to conduct such negotiations.”
Since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the parties have held talks several times in February and March 2022. The first three face-to-face meetings took place in Belarus in February-March, and the fourth round of the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue was held on March 29, 2022 in Istanbul. After that, the process was frozen, since Kyiv withdrew from it.
On October 4, 2022, Zelensky signed a decree refusing to negotiate with Russia as long as Putin is its president. In the autumn of the same year, he presented a “peace formula” according to which Ukraine must preserve its territorial integrity. Moscow called the plan unrealistic.
The Kremlin regularly declares its readiness for negotiations. At the same time, at the end of 2022, Peskov emphasized that Russia will not follow other people’s conditions, as it is guided only by its own goals and common sense.
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