GENEVA, May 27. /TASS/. The negotiation process on Ukraine must take into account Russia's security interests, be conducted taking into account the current realities, and Kiev should lift the legislative ban on negotiations with the Russian leadership, Russian Ambassador to Switzerland Sergey Garmonin said in an interview with TASS.
Answering a question about the conditions under which Russian representatives could participate in a peace conference, the ambassador said: "First of all, Kiev must lift the legislative ban on negotiations with the Russian leadership. This is an obvious precondition for starting any substantive talks on ending the conflict," he said, recalling that Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, have repeatedly said this.
Second, the negotiation process "must take into account Russia's interests in the security sphere and not be another attempt to impose the dreams of the Kiev regime, divorced from reality, as we see in the case of the Burgenstock conference," Garmonin continued. Russia "simply will not participate in events promoting Vladimir Zelensky's so-called 'peace formula' or other similar 'plans' that constitute an ultimatum to Russia," he added.
Third, the peace process will be conducted taking into account existing realities "on the ground," Garmonin stressed. "Demands for a return to the 1991 borders are unrealistic," he said, adding, "Any attempts by the West to prolong the simmering conflict will only worsen the Kiev regime's initial negotiating position as it continues to lose ground on the front lines."
The Swiss authorities are planning to hold a conference on Ukraine at the Burgenstock resort on June 15-16. According to the Swiss authorities, Russia is not invited to this meeting.
In November 2022, Zelensky presented the so-called 10-point plan for achieving peace, which did not take into account Moscow's position and included the complete withdrawal of the Russian armed forces outside the 1991 borders and the return to Ukraine of control over the "exclusive economic zone" in the Azov and Black Seas.