A senior Russian diplomat said on Friday that negotiations on security guarantees for Russia cannot take place as long as NATO troops and “mercenaries” remain in Ukraine and while supplies of Western weapons to Kiev continue, Reuters reports.
In an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS, Oleksandr Darchiev, head of the North American department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that negotiations would be premature “until the flow of arms and funding to the Zelenskyi regime, US and NATO military/mercenaries/instructors stops. will be removed.”
Russia calls foreign volunteers fighting alongside the Ukrainian army “mercenaries” and has condemned captured foreign fighters for acting as such.
In recent weeks, Russian officials have increasingly emphasized their openness to talks on Ukraine, even as they stressed that they do not believe Zelensky is interested in a peaceful settlement.
Darchiev said the talks should also be preceded by “recognition of the realities we have identified on the ground,” an apparent reference to Russia’s control of parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
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Source: Hot News
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