MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. With the situation in and around Ukraine continuing to worsen, the West is beginning to "test the waters" in terms of negotiations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Sputnik radio station.

Asked what could get the West engage in talks with Russia, the diplomat noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of UN Security Council events in New York had been initiated by Switzerland.

"This is the answer to your question. They (the Westerners - TASS) are certainly testing the waters and clearly, they cannot come out and say as much but they are doing everything possible to accuse Russia of disrupting or rejecting talks. By hosting conferences like the one that took place in Switzerland, as well as other events, they are trying to make people believe that negotiation processes are underway. They are simply pretending that this is the case, but it’s not. However, they have come to understand that the scheme is not working. No ‘Zelensky formula’ can be promoted," she noted.

According to Zakharova, the West is looking for common ground with Russia. "Why is that? You know them and we know them and we all know that when everything’s fine, they don’t test the waters but they make commands and give orders, ignoring others, and whatever they do, they don’t look for common ground. This is what the collective West - the Wild West - is like," she said. "So this is an indicator showing that they are well aware that the odds are stacked against them on the battlefield, absolutely against them. Politically, they are self-isolated," the diplomat added.