Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a press briefing in Makhachkala, Dagestan, indicated that the Ministry was moving forward in preparing its proposal for the continuation of peace talks with Ukraine. In Istanbul both sides had pledged to develop such a paper, and the two could be reconciled as a common pathway for moving forward in peace negotiations. Zakharova was in Dagestan to address a delegation of international journalists traveling there at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Zakharova said that the draft memorandum would outline a number of positions such as principles of settlement, time-frames for the possible conclusion of an agreement, and a potential ceasefire for a certain period of time if appropriate agreements are reached. While the Ukrainians should also be working on developing a similar document, she noted that Zelensky was trying in every possible way to complicate and sabotage the emerging peace process. “Those who want peace,” she said, “do not have plans on how supply more weapons to the region, how to develop more deadly weapons, or how to worsen the situation,” measures, she said, which would “not allow those plans or shoots that were planted in Istanbul to grow further.”
“They understand that they are suffering losses, to put it mildly, that are tangible on the battlefield, and they are striking at civilians, at the civilian population, completely turning themselves into terrorist extremists,” she said. She also scored the European attempts to get themselves “a seat at the table.” Noting what seemed like drug use by the “three stooges” on the train leaving Kiev, Zakharova said that she “doubt[ed] that they will be able to sit at the table. Maybe we should reserve a place for them under the table.”
