By offering negotiations on Ukraine, the West will not force Russia to abandon its principles, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented to Izvestia on January 14 on the words of Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who proposed including the Russian Federation in the process of peaceful resolution of the situation in Ukraine.
The West will not be able to “trap” Moscow by offering negotiations on Ukraine on the condition of abandoning Russian principled approaches, the Russian diplomat noted.
She recalled: in order to find a way out of the impasse into which Washington has driven some EU countries, it is necessary to “stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, not accept anti-Russian sanctions and not make Russophobic statements.”
“If this rhetoric is aimed at drawing Russia on Western terms into some kind of psychedelic process in order to influence Russia’s fundamental approaches, then we will not be lured into this trap,” Zakharova added.
Earlier that day, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, during the fourth meeting of national security advisers dedicated to the Ukrainian “peace formula” in Davos, said that Russia needs to find any way to include the Russian Federation in the discussion of a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
Also on January 14, Maria Zakharova, in an interview with Izvestia, called Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposals for peace a staged act. She pointed out that there is no peace formula, and the point of events held under the pretext of it is to lure as many countries as possible in order to create the appearance of anti-Russian consolidation.
Swiss media reported that day that the meeting in Davos on the Ukrainian “peace formula”, scheduled for January 14, would be the last. Swiss Foreign Minister Cassis later said that the fourth discussion “could be the last at this level.” Previously, similar discussions took place in Denmark, Saudi Arabia and Malta.
On January 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it strange to discuss Zelensky’s “peace formula” without Russia’s participation. He emphasized that processes that are difficult to explain are taking place: some countries are meeting and discussing “some kind of ephemeral peace formula without the participation of Russia.”
In December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called Zelensky’s “peace formula” a figment of a sick imagination, emphasizing that its essence is to return Russia to the borders of 1991, and not the energy and food security of Ukraine.
The so-called peace formula was proposed by Zelensky in November 2022. It consists of 10 points, the implementation of which will supposedly help end the conflict.
The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the backdrop of an aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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