MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Any efforts that could lead to resolving the Ukrainian conflict are of great importance, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said when asked to comment on trilateral negotiations in Geneva.
"Any step that can lead to, or guide the process toward resolving the situation is very important," she said on the Sputnik radio station.
It is Kiev and its Western backers who are diminishing the importance of negotiations, Zakharova emphasized. "Who is saying, time after time, that negotiations are not needed and that this is all foolishness? Who is humiliating and, to put it in a modern way, acting pessimistic about the significance of the negotiating process? They are doing this, the Kiev regime. Do you want to be like that? I don’t. And who is standing beside and humoring the Kiev regime? Westerners, and by that I mean Western Europe. Remember, Paris, Berlin, <...> Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, or somebody else is always talking about how negotiations are unnecessary," she noted.
Russia has repeatedly indicated its desire for peace, the diplomat added. "If we understand that we all truly want peace - and Russia has proven it many times - and we understand that those on the other side, who are not interested in peace, are constantly saying that negotiations are not needed under different pretexts, do we have the right, I would even say, to take for granted the existing opportunities for discussions?" Zakharova said.
The trilateral talks between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine began in Geneva on Tuesday. The Russian delegation is led by Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.