PARIS, April 7. /TASS/. Aymeric Chauprade, a French political scientist and former member of the European Parliament, has said footage from Bucha was designed to hamper Russian-Ukrainian talks.
"I give credit to this official position for at least three reasons: One, the American ‘track record’ in terms of staging; two, the moment of ‘Bucha’: just when there’s a hope of an agreement to cease fire; three, Russia has no interest in more sanctions," he said on Twitter.
The researcher also said US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky didn’t want a ceasefire.
On April 3, the Russian Ministry of Defense rebutted Kiev’s accusations of murder of civilians in the town of Bucha, Kiev Region. The ministry stated that Russian forces completely withdrew from Bucha on March 30, while the "evidence of crimes" didn’t appear until four days later when Ukrainian Security Service officers arrived in Bucha. The Defense Ministry also said that Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk confirmed in a video address on March 31 that there were no Russian forces in the city, and he didn’t mention any civilians shot and killed in the streets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the situation in Bucha as a "fake news attack."