Russia labels European diplomacy over Ukraine ‘insignificant’

Russia branded as “insignificant” European diplomatic consultations with Ukraine on Wednesday ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

“We consider the consultations sought by the Europeans to be politically and practically insignificant,” Russian foreign ministry deputy spokesman Alexey Fadeev said in a briefing.

“The Europeans verbally support the diplomatic efforts of Washington and Moscow to resolve the crisis around Ukraine, but in fact the European Union is sabotaging them,” he said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders were to hold urgent talks with Trump on Wednesday, hoping to convince him to respect Kyiv’s interests in his looming summit with Putin on Friday.

The summit is so far planned to go ahead without Zelensky. This has fuelled fears Kyiv could be forced into painful concessions, notably over land.

Zelensky has called for a full ceasefire — a proposal which Russia has rejected.

Ahead of the conference call, Zelensky, who has spoken with more than 30 international leaders in the last few days, said “pressure must be exerted on Russia for the sake of a fair peace”.

EU leaders stressed on Tuesday “the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny” and that “international borders must not be changed by force”.

But Fadeev on Wednesday said the EU rhetoric “about supposed support for finding peaceful solutions is just another attempt to stall the settlement process”.

“We will monitor the actions of European countries in connection with the upcoming summit and hope that no steps will be taken that would prevent it from taking place and reaching constructive agreements,” he said.

AFP

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