MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Moscow is not shutting the door on talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict but its response to Kiev’s attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence should not be solely diplomatic, political scientist Dimitri Simes told the Solovyov Live TV channel.
He pointed out that both Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov had reiterated that "Russia remains ready for talks."
"I do hope that there won’t be just a diplomatic response," Simes noted. "Responding to an attack like this only with statements, appeals, and complaints to the UN and other international organizations would be a sign of weakness," the analyst added. "And weakness shown by a great power would lead to further attacks," he noted.
However, the political scientist emphasized that it wouldn’t be surprising if US and European monitoring means "won’t confirm the attack." "The ball is now in their court, and what they will do is very important," Simes concluded.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Monday that on the night of December 28-29, Ukraine had launched a terrorist attack on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod Region, launching 91 unmanned aerial vehicles. All drones were destroyed by air defenses; there were no reports of casualties or damage, Lavrov noted. The action was carried out by Kiev amid intensive negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict, the top Russian diplomat stressed.