GENEVA, January 10. /TASS/. The imaginary threat of Russian military invasion of Ukraine must not be viewed as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Monday after Russian-US consultations on security guarantees.
"This is not the case because we have no intention to invade Ukraine. And thus there is nothing to trade and secondly, we do not expect the West to show flexibility on some of the issues that we presented," he said.
The senior Russian diplomat expressed hope for changes in Ukraine.
"I’m hopeful that situation in Ukraine will change in two senses primarily - number one that government in Kiev engages in a meaningful manner with people in Donetsk and Lugansk as provided for in the Minsk package," he said. "I equally expect authorities in Kiev to sustain and observe the ceasefire agreement which arrived a few days before the New Year and which didn’t stand for long because of new provocations on the part of Ukrainian security forces."
The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences. According to him, Moscow is making every possible effort to help Kiev resolve the conflict in Donbass, remaining committed to the Normandy Four format and the Minsk Agreements.