The Foreign Ministry announced the futility of negotiations with Kyiv after the decision of the West to transfer tanks

After the decision of the Western countries to send tanks to Ukraine, it is pointless to negotiate with Kyiv and its “puppeteers”. Such a statement in an interview with RIA Novosti done Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov.

“In the current conditions, when Washington has announced its decision to supply tanks, and its vassals, including Ottawa, are competing to see who and how much will supply armored vehicles to Ukraine, especially old ones, it is pointless to talk not only with the Ukronazis, but also with their puppeteers. Many of them are just caricatures in their ignorance,” he said.

Ryabkov stressed that Moscow is still ready to consider any “serious initiatives” to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, but so far “no one has really formulated them.” The diplomat added that Russia’s position on this issue is “well known.”

He also recalled the words of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former French President Francois Hollande and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the Minsk agreements. In his opinion, after such statements, “illusions about the mediation of the West <...> should be completely gone.”

On January 25, the United States announced the transfer of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. On the same day, Germany announced the delivery of 14 Leopard 2 tanks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement that Berlin would also allow allies to send their Leopard 2s to Ukraine.

Against the background of reports about the transfer of tanks to Kyiv in the Kremlin indicated to strengthen the direct involvement of Western countries in the conflict in Ukraine. On January 26, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov also declaredthat Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has long ceased to be a possible interlocutor for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Since the beginning of hostilities, the parties have held negotiations several times. 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. Later, the process was frozen, since Ukraine withdrew from it.