Russia remains open to negotiations, says Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that Moscow’s position on negotiations with Ukraine remains unchanged. This follows accusations made by a German official who recently claimed that Moscow was not prepared for talks.
“We remain open to negotiations, we have never rejected them, we are ready to carry them out, taking into account, of course, the realities that are taking shape at the present time.” Zakharova said during a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
The spokeswoman accused the German government of not using its influence over kyiv to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Instead of using its influence on the kyiv regime, the German side, contrary to its own laws and regulations prohibiting the export of lethal weapons to crisis zones and zones of armed conflict, continues to pump the kyiv regime with various systems. of arms, thus encouraging him to continue hostilities at all costs,” said Zakharova.
Moscow’s response comes after a deputy spokeswoman for the German federal government, Christiane Hoffmann, said on Monday that Berlin sees “Insufficient preparation for negotiations by Russia.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has called on world powers to “Forcing Russia into real peace negotiations” and offered his own set of conditions for resuming talks, including the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and compensation for all damage caused by the conflict.
Last week, several media outlets also reported that US officials had been secretly pressuring Ukraine to show a willingness to engage in dialogue with Moscow. However, according to the Washington Post sources, this was not intended to achieve any real negotiations, but rather to alleviate the concerns of foreign sponsors about the prolongation of the conflict.