Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that France tried to establish a “dialogue on the Ukrainian issue” with Moscow, but without including Kiev.
While negotiations are being mentioned more and more often, Western countries that want to show themselves as a united front in support of Kiev have repeatedly repeated that no decisions can be made about Ukraine behind its back.
“I will not go into details so as not to disappoint anyone, but our French colleagues have called on several occasions through confidential channels: ‘Let’s help, let’s establish a dialogue on the Ukrainian issue,’ but without Ukraine,” Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow .
Lavrov condemned the “ambiguous behavior” of France towards the Ukrainian conflict, but also said: “We have not rejected it” and added that Russian officials are “ready to listen”.
A French diplomatic source explained to AFP that “the Russian authorities are used to making inappropriate statements with the aim of using aggression for their own purposes, for which they bear full responsibility, and if Russia wants peace, it is up to it to put an end to the war.”
“Since the beginning of the war, France has been reminding that it is up to Ukraine, the attacked country, to define the moment and the conditions under which it will want to negotiate. Ukraine has proposed a peace formula that France supports. The peace concluded without the Ukrainians could not be a lasting peace in any case.” , the source added.
The hypothesis of peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine is becoming more frequent as Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20 approaches.
He repeatedly promised to restore peace in Ukraine “within 24 hours” and called for an “immediate ceasefire” as well as negotiations.
But the lack of clarity over his plan is causing concern in Ukraine, which, struggling at the front and heavily dependent on Western aid, fears being forced into an unfavorable deal.
Last Sunday, at a summit in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West for unity: “The United States and Europe can only really stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin together.”
Some European countries, including France, have mentioned the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine to guarantee compliance with a possible ceasefire, but Lavrov said today that “we do not take such statements seriously”.
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Source: www.vijesti.me
