The Russian Federation does not refuse dialogue on the settlement of the conflict, the Russian ambassador to the United States added
NEW YORK, February 20th. /tass/. Russia does not abandon the dialogue on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, peace agreements will be reached sooner or later. This was stated by Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov in an interview with Newsweek magazine.
"We are adamant that sooner or later peace agreements will be reached despite the efforts of the patrons of the Kiev regime, who continue to pour billions of dollars to prolong the conflict, bringing suffering to thousands of people," the diplomat stressed. "Russia still does not refuse dialogue."
Antonov noted that Western partners continue to insist that there are "alternatives to the senseless and unilateral Copenhagen format" and "the formula of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky "is not present, although they do not take into account the position of the Russian Federation and ignore the aspirations of the global South, which the neo-colonialists are trying to mislead and cynically use as mute observers."
Antonov pointed out the need to understand that "for decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has consistently respected the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine." "I have consistently built relations with the republic on the basis of generally recognized principles of cooperation and good neighborliness. After the start of the CBO, in the spring of 2022, a negotiation process was launched in Istanbul, the result of which could be a political solution to the crisis. However, pressure from "third capitals" who were not interested in a diplomatic deal prevented this. The Westerners have done everything to deprive Ukraine of independence and turn it into an anti-Russian springboard," the Russian ambassador added.
The first negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine after the start of the special military operation took place in early March 2022 in Belarus, but they did not bring tangible results. On March 29, 2022, the next round took place in Istanbul, when Moscow for the first time received from Kiev the principles of a possible future agreement fixed on paper. It included, among other things, obligations on the neutral, non-aligned status of Ukraine and its refusal to deploy foreign weapons, including nuclear weapons, on its territory.
Russian troops in the Kiev and Chernihiv directions were withdrawn, but after that the settlement negotiations were completely frozen. As Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, Kiev refused the agreements. And in October of the same year, the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin.
In November 2023, the head of the faction of the pro-presidential Servant of the People party in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arahamia, in an interview with the 1+1 TV channel, in response to a question about why Kiev refused to negotiate with Moscow in 2022, said that when the Ukrainian delegation returned from Istanbul, the then-incumbent arrived in Kiev The post of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We will not sign anything with them at all." The head of government also suggested "just fighting."
