MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Russia realized after the deal tentatively reached at the 2022 Istanbul talks suddenly fell through that they should be negotiating about a settlement in Ukraine not with the country’s nominal leader, President Vladimir Zelensky, but rather with those who are pulling his strings and to whom he answers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters.

"Back when his [Zelensky's] legitimacy was not questioned by anyone, when he was recognized by everyone, we understood that negotiations should not be conducted with him. And the conviction that this was pointless came right after the failure of the Istanbul talks in April 2022," Moscow’s top diplomat pointed out. "Since then, we have understood that we should not be talking with Zelensky, but with those who permit him or forbid him to take this or that action," he said.

The top Russian diplomat recalled that Ukrainian officials have openly acknowledged that Kiev was asked by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose a ban on signing any agreements with Russia.

"When the entire situation becomes clearer, then perhaps we can already talk about the format of possible negotiations. Right now, no one in the West is ready for that. I don't think anyone takes Zelensky's 'formula' seriously anymore, and if I were in the place of people who value their reputations, I would stop mentioning this 'formula' altogether, especially for the twenty thousandth time," Lavrov concluded.