Russian FM says Kiev’s terms for talks ‘unrealistic’

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that Ukraine’s conditions for ending the ongoing conflict and for restarting peace talks with Moscow have been “unrealistic and inadequate.”

“I said again that all problems are with the Ukrainian side, which is categorically refusing negotiations and putting forward conditions that are obviously unrealistic,” Lavrov told reporters at the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on Tuesday.

The longer Ukraine rejects negotiations, the harder it will be to find common ground, the top Russian diplomat added.

“We’ve repeatedly, through the statements of our president, confirmed that we don’t refuse negotiations, if anyone does so, it’s Ukraine. And the longer it refuses to talk, the more difficult it’ll be to find common ground.”

Commenting on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s video address to the G20 summit, Lavrov said it was full of “militant, Russophobic and aggressive rhetoric.” “I’ve made only one conclusion from his speech: that he’s still not listening to any advice from the West.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov also said he had a brief conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier on Tuesday. During this exchange, the French leader “confirmed his willingness to continue contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin to find some agreements that would allow this whole situation to be settled, as he put it.”

“I reminded [Macron] that all the problems are on the Ukrainian side, which categorically refuses any talks and puts forward conditions that are invariably unrealistic and inadequate, considering the situation,” the Foreign Minister said.