Moscow says Kyiv undermining peace attempts

Moscow on Wednesday accused Kyiv of undermining any peace attempts in its reaction to the first call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping since Russia's offensive.

China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict despite strong ties with Russia. It has not condemned Moscow's offensive.

"The Ukrainian authorities and their Western minders have already shown their ability to mess up any peace initiatives," the Russian foreign ministry said.

Moscow noted "the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish a negotiation process."

Beijing proposed a vague political solution to the conflict that includes a call for dialogue and respect for all countries' territorial sovereignty.

"We see a broad consonance in our approach and in the provisions in the paper" published by China, Russia's foreign ministry said. 

It accused Kyiv of having rejected "any sensible initiatives aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement."

"The eventual consent to negotiations is conditioned by ultimatums with obviously unrealistic demands," it said. 

Ukraine has said it would not negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that peace would only be possible after Russia withdrew its troops.

 

AFP