“We have paid attention to a recent decree by the Ukrainian president to approve the decision of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council on the 'impossibility' of negotiating with the Russian president,” Zakharova told reporters on Thursday.
“Already at the time it was obvious that this was done at the behest of the West, which does not want a cessation of hostilities [in Ukraine] and intends to continue them,” Zakharova emphasized.
“President [of Russia Vladimir Putin] said that Russia, of course, retains its willingness to negotiate. But as the situation changes, so do the conditions, and we have repeatedly spoken about this. But in general, the principle remains the same: all the goals of the special military operation [remain the same],” Peskov told reporters.
“If [the West] wants not negotiations, but the victory of Ukraine over Russia on the battlefield, then, probably, there is simply nothing to talk about with the West, since this approach does not allow Ukraine to move forwards towards the peace process,” Lavrov pointed out. He underlined that it was Ukraine that earlier abandoned the Moscow-Kiev negotiations.