Ukraine denied today that it refuses to sit at the negotiating table with Russia and assured that the parties are currently holding consultations on the place and time of the possible dialogue to end the war launched by the Kremlin once morest the country.
“I must refute the accusations that we have refused to negotiate. Ukraine has been and remains ready to talk regarding a ceasefire and peace,” said Sergii Nykyforov, spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on his Facebook account.
“This is our constant position. We agreed with a proposal from the President of the Russian Federation. Consultations are currently being held between the parties on the place and time of the negotiation process,” he said.
He argued that “the sooner negotiations begin, the more chance there is of returning to normal.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zajárova, said shortly before that the Ukrainian authorities proposed to Russia to talk this Saturday regarding possible negotiations between the parties and did not want to advance on that matter on Friday.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that Ukraine is avoiding sitting at the negotiating table following Moscow accepted Kiev’s proposal and suggested Minsk, the Belarusian capital, as the venue for the talks.
According to Peskov, Ukraine proposed Warsaw as an alternative place for dialogue following which it “took a pause” and “broke off communication”.
Zelensky declared on Thursday night that he was willing to discuss his country’s neutrality in exchange for guarantees for Ukraine.
Russia’s main security demands related to Ukraine refer to its demilitarization and that the neighboring country never join NATO.
“We are not afraid of Russia, we are not afraid to talk to Russia, to talk regarding everything: regarding guarantees for our state, regarding the status of neutrality,” the Ukrainian president said in this regard.
From the Russian Foreign Ministry they pointed out, in turn, that the possible negotiations with Kiev would not necessarily mean the end of the military intervention, whose objective is the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine.
“We have said that we are prepared (to negotiate). But the tasks that have been set before the start of the special military operation do not disappear and remain current,” Zakharova said.
The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, also considers that, in these circumstances, it is easier to negotiate with the Ukrainian military, whom he called to rise up.
He proposed them to “seize power”.
“Take the power in your hands! Apparently it will be easier to reach an agreement with you than with that gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have settled in Kiev and have kidnapped the entire Ukrainian people,” said the Kremlin chief. at a meeting with the Russian Security Council. EFE