MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Western countries are not willing to discuss peaceful settlement as a solution to the Ukraine crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik radio.
"Peaceful settlement is off the table as far as Ukraine is concerned, that is the concept of NATO-centered Washington and Western countries in general," said the diplomat.
The US has hindered settlement efforts since the start of the conflict eight years ago, she said.
"We have witnessed the United States, in particular, which is not even party to the Normandy format, blocking all settlement efforts," Zakharova said. The US has been behind the Kiev regime, doing everything to prevent ex-President Pyotr Poroshenko and now Vladimir Zelensky from honoring their commitments under the peace agreements, she said.
This is no new Western concept, this is "its new phase," Zakharova said. Initially, they sought to derail the Minsk agreements, while today, when the Minsk accord no longer exists, the concept grew in scale and is aimed at "fanning the fire," she said.