Lavrov Says West, Ukraine Not Ready for Serious Talks With Russia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Neither Ukrainian nor Western politicians are ready to engage in any serious negotiations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, describing the upcoming Swiss-hosted conference on Ukraine as a "parody of negotiations."

"We have nobody to talk to. I cited some statements by Ukrainian, US and European leadership, the political class. None of them are ready for a serious conversation. They are 'playing' a parody of negotiations by having a meeting in Switzerland. The Copenhagen format is completely dead-ended," Lavrov told Bosnian broadcaster ATV in an interview released on Sunday.

Lavrov emphasized that the West is trying “by hook or by crook, blackmail and lies” to drag the maximum number of developing countries and countries of the Global South into “gatherings” in Switzerland.

Switzerland will hold a conference on Ukraine on June 15-16 near the city of Lucerne. About 160 states have been invited to the meeting, but Russia will not attend. Russian Ambassador to Bern Sergei Garmonin previously told Sputnik that Russia will not participate in any format in the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland, the purpose of which is to present an ultimatum to Moscow. He added that this conference would turn into a noisy but empty PR campaign. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov previously said that the negotiation process on Ukraine without the participation of Russia makes no sense.

Moscow has repeatedly indicated that it is ready for negotiations, but Kiev has introduced a ban on them at the legislative level. The West constantly calls on the Russian Federation to negotiate, for which Moscow shows readiness, but at the same time the West ignores Kiev’s constant refusals to do the same. Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia stated in an interview with Sputnik that Moscow is ready to consider proposals for a settlement that take into account the proposals of the Russian side and the situation “on the ground”, but the Ukrainian regime is not interested in this.