Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 26Ukraine should quickly respond to the treaty proposals submitted by Russia, if Kyiv is serious about the outcome of the negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. who have been on their side for more than ten days, about whom, as it turned out (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky had not heard of,» Lavrov said during a press conference following talks with UN Secretary General António Guterres.
Lavrov said that Kyiv is not interested in negotiations. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. Russian-Ukrainian consultations began at the end of February: the delegations held two face-to-face meetings in Belarus, after which it was decided to continue them on a daily basis via video conferencing. At the end of March, the delegations held another round of talks in Istanbul. As a result, the head of the Russian delegation at the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, aide to the President of the Russian Federation, said that Ukraine had submitted its written proposals for a future treaty, which Moscow considers a step forward, and in general, Kyiv for the first time in many years showed a desire to negotiate.
Zakharova: Kyiv endlessly evades and abandons its declared positionsThe Russian side, in response, took two steps towards Ukraine. First, it was decided to significantly reduce hostilities in the Kiev and Chernigov directions. Secondly, Moscow suggested that the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky should take place simultaneously with the initialing of the treaty by the foreign ministers. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said that Ukraine was refusing its own proposals and creating numerous provocations in order to slow down the negotiation process. In particular, according to the minister, Ukraine presented its draft agreement with Russia, which is a departure from the provisions fixed at the meeting in Istanbul regarding Crimea, and also changed the provision on military exercises without mentioning the need to obtain Russia's consent.
The West is very scared: Russia is winning
