Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reacted to the words of his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about Ukraine's initiative to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. Lavrov shows that he is not in the mood for a constructive ministerial conversation in the Normandy format.
Dmitry Kuleba said this at a briefing.
Kuleba said that the German and French ministers are ready for a Normandy meeting.
"And Sergey Lavrov shows that he is not set up for a constructive conversation between the ministers, but to compete with his own speaker in verbal sophistication. Therefore, Lavrov's words are a spit in the face of France and Germany," Kuleba said.
According to him, the leaders clearly agreed that a ministerial meeting should take place to prepare the ground for the summit.
"At the same time, we still have not received any signals from Russia about the readiness to hold it. Sergei Lavrov's latest statement undermines the peace process and goes against the agreements of the leaders of the Normandy format states. I call on my Russian interlocutor to stop hiding from us, muster up courage and sit down at the negotiating table," Kuleba said.
As a reminder, Lavrov previously said that Germany and France had already refused to expand the Normandy format at the expense of the United States. Ukraine is ready for a meeting of the foreign ministers in the Normandy format and awaits confirmation from Russia.
