Russia believes Ukraine is making a mockery of peace talks – RIA
Moscow suspects that Kiev wants to turn negotiations into “a TV show,” a source told the news agency
Ukraine wants to make a spectacle out of peace negotiations, instead of earnestly pursuing a diplomatic resolution to the current conflict, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing a Moscow source.
The report comes after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Wednesday that he would like to have negotiations with Russia in “a public format,” rather than behind closed doors.
“Russia has not changed the position that it is open to negotiations – unlike Kiev, which first requested [negotiations], then abandoned them, and now is ready to renew them but is putting forward inappropriate preconditions,” the source was quoted as saying.
“Kiev’s new idea of ‘public’ negotiations, which is an attempt to turn diplomacy into a TV show, proves the unseriousness of its intentions.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied on Thursday that the notion of public negotiations “doesn’t exist.”
“One thing is obvious: The Ukrainian side doesn’t want any talks,” he added.
source @NewResistance
