On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed a “peace formula” proposal offered by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing Zelenskyy of being a puppet of Western countries.
“Obviously, Kyiv is not ready for dialogue,” Lavrov told Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
“Proposing all kinds of ideas and ‘peace formulas’, Zelensky harbors the illusion of achieving, with the help of the West, the withdrawal of our troops from the Russian territory of Donbas, Crimea, Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson region, the payment of reparations by Russia, and delivery to international courts and the like,” he said, according to Newsweek.
“Of course, we will not talk to anyone in such conditions,” Lavrov added.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivers his speech when meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Russia in Moscow, Russia, Monday, September 19, 2022.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Zelenskyy proposed a 10-step “peace formula” when addressing the G20 in November, which included a war tribunal to hold the Kremlin accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine. He also said that Russia must withdraw its troops, cease hostilities and restore Ukraine’s state borders, including the four territories that Russia annexed with fake referendums: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.
Russia has flatly rejected these demands.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a virtual session during the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 16, 2022. (Photo by WILLY KURNIAWAN/POOL/AFP) (Photo by WILLY KURNIAWAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
(WILLY KURNIAWAN/PISCINA/AFP via Getty Images)
“There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account the current realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia. Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful,” said the Wednesday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. .
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Associated Press on Monday that Ukraine wants a peace summit within a two month period and asked the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, to act as a mediator.
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Zelensky is in Washington to meet US President Joe Biden and address Congress, his first trip abroad since Russia invaded in February.
(MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
But Kuleba said that while Kyiv will try to win the war in 2023, he does not believe Russia will participate in the summit.
“What kind of ‘peace summit’ can happen without Russia?” Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, was quoted as saying by Russian state media outlet Tass.
Polyansky called the proposal “404 diplomacy” and in turn said it was “very easy” to imagine a summit without Ukraine.
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The UN chief has said he will only act as a mediator if both Russia and Ukraine want him to.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
