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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticised an open letter that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, labelling it rude and saying guns will do the talking.
Sergey Lavrov specifically pointed out on Monday that Moscow is unhappy that the letter was “circulated around the world”, claiming that “polite people do not behave this way”.
Lavrov also claimed that for the Kremlin it “indicates that Ukraine has no interest in negotiation,” despite Kyiv’s numerous attempts to initiate talks with Moscow.
Russia’s foreign minister echoed Putin’s earlier statement that “it is not negotiations but the actions of those involved” on the front lines of Russia’s war “that are crucial to the outcome” of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Last week, Ukraine’s president released an open letter to Putin, proposing direct talks between the two presidents.
Putin rejected the offer during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last Friday, saying he “sees no point in meeting Zelenskyy”.
Zelenskyy’s initiative was later echoed by the leaders of France, Germany and the UK who together with Ukraine’s president issued a joint statement on Sunday outlining five conditions they said were necessary for a “just and lasting peace”.
Among them were an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and negotiations based on the current line of contact.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the European initiative during his briefing on Monday, claiming that European leaders were undermining their own calls for peace by continuing military support for Ukraine.
“I would like to point out that Macron, Starmer, and Merz are all trying to talk about peace. At the same time, they are emphasising their intention to assist (Ukraine) in producing new types of weapons,” he said.
Moscow also slams the US
Lavrov also claimed on Monday that the US “unfortunately” shows no interest in returning to what Moscow claims was an “understanding reached in Anchorage” last summer.
“I very much hope that the experience of previous failures, when the West refused to honour agreements it had itself supported, will not be repeated in relation to the Alaska agreement,” Russia’s foreign minister claimed.
“But so far, to our great regret, our American partners have shown no interest in this.”
Lavrov expressed his disappointment and “concern” over a statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who recently said at a congressional hearing that Washington cannot act as a mediator because it supports Ukraine.
“The same was said by the well-known Kaja Kallas and a number of other figures from the European Union and the European Commission,” Lavrov said.
During hearings on 3 June, Rubio also said that the US does not see a military path to ending the conflict.
He said the war can only be stopped through diplomatic means, but this is hindered by the parties’ lack of willingness to compromise.
According to Rubio, Washington continues to support any efforts aimed at establishing peace, as it believes that the war in Ukraine has no military solution.
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