Lavrov ruled out the possibility of negotiations with Zelensky

Peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are impossible because he has banned them by law. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the annual final press conference.

“There can be no talk of negotiations with Zelensky, if only because he legally forbade negotiating with the Russian government,” the minister said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

Lavrov called the conditions proposed earlier by Zelensky for peace talks “absurd.” According to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ukrainian leader’s ten-point “peace formula” contains “everything possible.” At the same time, Russia is ready to respond to serious proposals for negotiations with Ukraine, but so far has not received any, Lavrov added.

Since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the parties have held talks several times in February and March. 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 in Istanbul. After that, the process was frozen, since Kyiv withdrew from it.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is open to negotiations. At the same time, Ukraine has a document preventing their resumption. On October 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree refusing to negotiate with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin is its president.

The day before, on January 17, the press secretary of the President of Ukraine, Sergei Nikiforov, said that Kyiv was ready to resume negotiations with the Russian Federation if Moscow complied with the principles of international law. In response to the Kremlin remindedthat Kyiv has legally refused to negotiate with Russia. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev declaredthat in order to resume this process, consent is required on two legal aspects: recognition of the results of referendums in the new four regions of the Russian Federation and the development of special international norms.