Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister has claimed Russia was “ready” for peace talks before Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sergei Lavrov said the chances of negotiating a deal with Ukraine had been “ruined and sabotaged” when Kyiv turned the tables on Moscow three weeks ago and breached Russian borders.
According to state news agency TASS, he said: “We always remember that President Putin made the latest peace proposal in June, after all previous initiatives and agreements were ruined and sabotaged by the Kyiv regime and its Western backers.
“Our readiness for talks was beyond anyone’s doubt, although, of course, after the reckless move in the Kursk region, any discussion of this subject is no longer relevant.”
Ukraine’s forces shifted from the defence to offence on August 6 and broke through Russia’s borders for the first time since World War 2.
It is now occupying 1,000 sq km of Russia. That’s just a fraction compared to the 109,000 sq km of Ukrainian land Russia is occupying, but more than enough to cause major upset within the Kremlin.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since said that this is part of his wider plan to pressure Moscow into ending the war.
The next stages include separate diplomatic and economic steps, although Zelenskyy has not disclosed any further details about the strategy which he intends to put before the White House.
Moscow had completely written off this plan even before Lavrov’s comments.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed earlier this week that it is “more than obvious” there was no foundation for peace talks right now in the wake of the incursion.
And, despite suggestions the Kremlin was ready to negotiate, this is not a new stance for Moscow.
Putin has claimed repeatedly that a truce could only be agreed to based on the “realities on the ground,” meaning Russia wants to keep the 18% of the Ukrainian land it has illegally annexed.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is refusing to give up any of its territory and wants it all handed back, including the Crimean peninsula which Russia annexed back in 2014.
Kyiv also claims that it does not want to annexe the land it has taken in the Kursk, suggesting that it is just part of a wider negotiating tactic.