The statements by the Russian side that Moscow was ready to stop the war against Ukraine back in March 2022 are blatant lies. This was reported on Facebook by the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko.
Earlier we wrote that the Russian publication Izvestia published a piece today in which it claims that Moscow was allegedly ready to stop the war back in March during the negotiations of the delegations in Antalya (Turkey). In particular, President Vladimir Putin was allegedly ready to agree to Ukraine's neutral status with non-proliferation of Western guarantees on occupied Crimea and Donbass, but official Kiev withdrew the proposal.
"An outright lie. Dmitry Kuleba and Lavrov met in Antalya in March. The only issue the Ukrainian minister raised at that meeting was the opening of humanitarian corridors for evacuation from Mariupol. But then Lavrov admitted that he had no authority to discuss this issue or any other issue of stopping the Russian-Ukrainian war," Nikolenko stressed.
According to him, Russian propaganda is preparing the basis for further annexation of the seized areas of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
"For some Western figures who still believe in dialogue with Putin, it should finally become clear: Russia is not interested in negotiations. Russia does not want peace. Russia seeks to destroy Ukrainians," Nikolenko said.
He added that Putin will not be stopped by flirtations.
"He will be stopped by MLRS and other heavy weapons, with which Ukraine can defend its land, as well as even tougher international sanctions, including a ban on Russian exports and a gas embargo," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
