Russia says Ukraine ‘not ready for dialogue’ amid peace summit plans

Ukraine’s proposed peace plan shows it is “not ready for dialogue,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state media on Thursday.

Lavrov told state-owned RIA Novosti that Moscow will not engage with Ukrainian officials on peace negotiations under Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s currently proposed 10-point plan.

“Obviously, Kyiv is not ready for dialogue,” Lavrov said. “Putting forward all sorts of ideas and ‘formulas of peace,’ Zelensky cherishes the illusion of achieving, with the help of the West, the withdrawal of our troops from the Russian territory of Donbass, Crimea, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region, the payment of reparations by Russia, the turnout ‘with confession to international tribunals’ and the like.”

Zelensky’s plan, which he outlined during last month’s Group of 20 summit, in part calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the release of all prisoners and commitments on issues like nuclear and food security.

“We will not talk to anyone under such conditions,” Lavrov told RIA. “It is difficult to say whether adequate politicians remained in the territories controlled by the Kyiv regime, especially given the widespread practice of suppressing dissent and extrajudicial reprisals against dissent. Can some sane political figure appear in Kyiv later? Wait and see.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba earlier this week signaled support for a peace summit by the end of February, but he also called for Russia to face a war tribunal beforehand.

Lavrov is the latest Russian official to splash cold water on Ukraine’s proposal.

Reuters reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that “there can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia. Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful.”