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Military operation in Ukraine

Talks with Ukraine to be out of the question after Donbass joins Russia, lawmaker says

"The reason is that that situation has led to military developments and civilian deaths but the Kiev regime and those behind it don’t care about it, unfortunately," Leonid Slutsky noted

LDPR Leader and Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky Alexander Kryazhev/POOL/TASS

LDPR Leader and Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky

© Alexander Kryazhev/POOL/TASS

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. Any prospects for talks with Ukraine after Donbass joins Russia will be impossible, Chairman of the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky told reporters on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, talks have been out of the question for a while. The West and the Kiev junta that it controls stated that they weren’t ready to hold talks. Kiev politicians said earlier that surrender was the only possible development," he noted, when asked if talks would be possible after referendums on joining Russia took place in Donbass. "We were ready for talks <…> but Kiev violated all the agreements," Slutsky stressed.

He also noted that the negotiation process had long passed the point of no return. "The reason is that that situation has led to military developments and civilian deaths but the Kiev regime and those behind it don’t care about it, unfortunately," Slutsky added.

The authorities in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the administrations of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, earlier decided to hold referendums on joining Russia as its constituent entities. The plebiscites are scheduled to take place on September 23-27.

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Foreign policy Military operation in Ukraine

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