The bloc can help end hostilities by ceasing military support for Kiev, Russia’s Deputy FM Aleksandr Grushko has said
The European Union has no place at the negotiating table to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said, citing Brussels’ role in fueling the conflict.
On Tuesday, Russian and American officials convened in Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to restore bilateral relations and hold future negotiations on resolving the Ukraine conflict. The prospect of Moscow and Washington holding bilateral talks on ending the hostilities has prompted concern from a number of EU officials who have insisted on being part of the negotiations.
Speaking to journalists, Grushko expressed bewilderment at the EU’s demand for a seat at the negotiating table, stating that “this is simply astonishing, since they have been at this table for many years.”
The deputy minister pointed to the EU’s role in facilitating the failed Minsk agreements—a deal that was signed in 2015 and was supposed to stop the fighting between Ukraine and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
Germany and France were supposed to be the guarantors of the failed accords but later admitted that they only signed them to buy Kiev time to build up its military.
Grushko also pointed to the EU’s repeatedly stated desire to “inflict a strategic defeat on Russia,” stressing that “this rules out any role for the EU and European countries in the upcoming negotiations to resolve the conflict in and around Ukraine.”
However, the deputy minister suggested that there is one thing that the EU could do to help resolve the conflict, and that is stop any and all military and other support for Kiev.
Meanwhile, Russia’s permanent ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has also stressed that neither the EU nor the UK can be part of any Ukraine peace talks because they are “incapable of negotiation” and are blinded by a “manic desire to defeat Russia on the battlefield at the hands of the surviving Ukrainians.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also ruled out the EU’s participation in the negotiations, suggesting that the bloc would once again use a ceasefire in Ukraine to rearm Kiev.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has noted that it is too early to talk about any specifics of future Ukraine peace talks.
Lavrov has pointed out that the Russian and American delegations have met to “hear out” each other’s positions and restore communications after an “absolutely abnormal period” in bilateral relations.
