Kiev is betting on war, refusing to support Russia's proposals for a ceasefire, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told "Izvestia".
"Not a single attempt to declare a ceasefire was actually supported by the Kiev regime, which continued to violate the truce. And this shows that the Kiev regime is betting on war," the diplomat said.
„Especially since the Kiev regime's legislative self-imposed ban on negotiations with Russia has not been lifted," he stressed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to declare a ceasefire during the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War from midnight on May 8 to midnight on May 11. As the Kremlin reported, "all military actions will be suspended for this period."
Russia is not conducting official negotiations with Ukraine, and interaction is limited to contacts at the military and ombudsman levels, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador for crimes of the Kiev regime, Rodion Miroshnik, told Izvestia.
"Today we have interaction with Ukraine in terms of the exchange - this is at the military level. And there is a dialogue at the level of ombudsmen. There are no other official contacts that would talk about the beginning of a dialogue, a preliminary dialogue, consultations or negotiations for future negotiations. There are only attempts by the Americans to act as moderators of the process," he said.
As the diplomat noted, there is no reason to claim that Ukraine is ready to change its actions on the ground in any way. “Today we do not see this. We only see fluctuations in pseudo-peacekeeping rhetoric. Peacekeeping statements alone will not be enough; we do not see Ukraine in any way demonstrating or confirming its commitment to a ceasefire,“ explained Miroshnik.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia is in favor of starting direct negotiations with Ukraine without preconditions. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the plans of the West and Kiev to inflict a “strategic defeat“ of the Russian Federation will never come true and everyone already understands this perfectly well.