Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused Kyiv and the West of trying to derail settlement initiatives

Kyiv, London, and Brussels are trying to torpedo initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and to shift responsibility for a breakdown in the negotiation process onto Moscow.

This was stated by Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

According to the ministry, Kyiv is attempting to shift the focus to secondary issues of post-conflict arrangements in order to avoid discussing the substantive part of U.S. proposals, which are said to be based on agreements with Russia reached in Anchorage.

The Foreign Ministry’s statement notes that any proposals for resolving the situation in Ukraine must be examined to determine whether they are acceptable to Russia and whether they correspond to the goals and objectives of the “special military operation.”

The ministry expressed hope that, provided the “original Anchorage formula” is maintained and Russia’s interests are treated with “due care,” it will be possible “sooner or later” to arrive at a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis.

Trilateral talks on Ukraine scheduled for February 1 were suddenly postponed by several days. The reasons for the delay were not stated directly, but it happened immediately after a meeting in Miami on January 31 between Russian President’s special representative Kirill Dmitriev and U.S. negotiators.

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it is impossible to resolve territorial issues without direct contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and that the negotiating process is currently at a “difficult stage.”