MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Ukraine’s authorities have deprived themselves of the opportunity to settle the conflict politically and the Kiev regime and its Western handlers have no will for peace, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS.

"As for the possibility of the political settlement, the Kiev regime deprived itself of this opportunity long time ago, having imposed an absurd ban on talks with the Russian leadership. Zelensky signed a relevant decree on September 30, 2022. Nothing has changed since. Neither Kiev, nor its Western sponsors have any political will for peace. They still have a war mindset and futilely dream of defeating Russia on the battlefield," he noted.

The senior diplomat stressed that Russia continues to strive for its goals of Ukraine’s demilitarization and denazification and "removing the threats emanating from its territory" directed at Russia and its citizens.

The decree on "the lands historically inhabited by" Ukrainians reflects the Kiev regime’s desire to appropriate specific Russian regions while these plans are completely unrealistic, Mikhail Galuzin added.

"This is not the first time that Kiev presents territorial disputes to Russia," the senior diplomat said. "However, this time, the encroachment on originally Russian borderline lands is official and has a legal form," he noted. "Even though the decree does not mention redrawing the border directly, it clearly reflects an aspiration of the Kiev leadership to appropriate our country’s specific regions," he said.

"It is obvious that not only such plans are impossible to implement but they are also completely detached from the real state of affairs," Galuzin stressed.

According to the decree published on the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's website, the Cabinet of Ministers "is instructed to develop and submit to the National Security and Defense Council a plan of action for preserving the ethnic identity of Ukrainians in Russia, including the lands historically inhabited by them in Kuban, Starodubshchina, and Northern and Eastern Slobozhanshchina within the present-day Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions of Russia."

In particular, the decree envisages a probe into what is described as "crimes" allegedly committed against Ukrainians who live or lived in these territories, "forced Russification, political repression and deportations." It is also instructed to create a center for such studies.

The decree mentions preparations for holding events "aimed at debunking Russian myths about Ukraine.".

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson said that Russia had never refused to engage in dialogue on Ukraine but after the Istanbul talks were suspended in March 2022, Moscow has no intention of taking the first step.