ST. PETERSBURG, June 16./TASS/. There are many facts proving that the Bucha massacre was staged, but the West refuses to discuss them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.

The top diplomat reiterated that Russia immediately responded to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's initiative to start negotiations shortly after the special military operation began. "At a certain point late in March, when there was a meeting in Istanbul, these talks led to a result that gave hope to all of us, since the Ukrainian side for the first time committed to paper a position that suited us as the basis for work," Lavrov said.

"A few days later they backtracked on that position, while in between these events there was a provocation in Bucha, which now the West categorically refuses to even discuss, although many facts have already come to light proving that it was a false flag, absolutely hypocritical and cynical," Lavrov added.

Since then, since mid-April, there has been "complete silence," he said. "The Ukrainian side does not respond to the proposals that we handed over to them, based on their own initiatives," the top diplomat went on to say. "If the Ukrainian side shows understanding that it is necessary anyway to conclude some agreements, we are ready for this. But they haven’t shown this willingness," Lavrov summarized.

The Russia-Ukraine negotiations have been ongoing since February 28. Several meetings took place in Belarus, following which the sides continued their talks via a video link-up. A face-to-face round was held in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29.

Russian President Putin told reporters on April 12 that Kiev had departed from the accords reached in Turkey and brought this process to a deadlock. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 20 that Moscow had handed over to Kiev its draft document on agreements with clear-cut formulations and expected a reply. The Russian and Ukrainian leaders did not meet during the negotiating process.