MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. British diplomats these days are keen to position themselves as peacemakers in the situation around Ukraine, although it was London that banned Kiev from conducting peace talks with Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told a news briefing.

She was commenting on media reports that British diplomats were allegedly putting pressure on the Ukrainian authorities in order to make them to come to the negotiating table with Russia.

"I have no idea what kind of a negotiating table they are talking about, given that it was British diplomats who knocked it out from under the hands of Kiev negotiators in 2022," Zakharova pointed out. "Perhaps by means of such leaks the British authorities are trying to produce an impression they are peacemakers."

She noted that the relevant reports could only be properly assessed when the names of specific officials began to be mentioned.

"For such rhetoric to have the right to exist it is necessary to talk about this openly and confirm it with real action," Zakharova continued. "So far, in reality the opposite has been confirmed - namely, the ban and all sorts of tricks to dissuade the Kiev regime from negotiating with Russia for all these years."