Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question related to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister’s statement

Question: Following his telephone call to Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang on March 16, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba tweeted that he “underscored the importance of @ZelenskyyUA’s Peace Formula for ending the aggression and restoring just peace in Ukraine.” What is your comment?

Maria Zakharova: Regrettably, this is yet another Ukrainian attempt to misinform the international community and Ukrainian citizens.

The so-called Zelensky Peace Formula has nothing to do with peace. It is nothing other than a number of unrealistic ultimatums to Russia, including demands to withdraw its troops from Russian regions such as the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Zaporozhye Region, and the Kherson Region, as well as Crimea, to pay war reparations, and voluntarily surrender to the international tribunals. The Ukrainian “formula” is to engineer, with Western support, Russia’s capitulation.   

Indicatively, neither this tweet, nor any other Kuleba post proposes peace negotiations. Let me remind you that the holding of negotiations was banned by Zelensky’s Executive Order of September 30, 2022.

Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Alexei Danilov said in one of his recent interviews that the growing number of Ukrainians favouring peace talks with Russia was a “dangerous trend.” Incidentally, these remarks by Ukrainian functionaries reveal a number of things, including their actual recognition that Kiev’s policy has failed, a policy abhorred by a growing number of Ukrainian citizens, and a haughty attitude towards their own people, who are forced to die for their rulers’ insane Nazi plans.

Generally, however, the Ukrainian authorities’ opinion on any international subject would be of at least some importance, if Ukraine retained is sovereignty and independence from Washington. But this is not the case. For a long time, the Kiev regime has been a tool for fighting Russia in the hands of the United States and other NATO countries, which are not interested in a peace settlement in Ukraine.

For example, in his comment on China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis published by the PRC Foreign Ministry on February 24, White House Spokesman John Kirby said that “ceasefire right now would constitute another continued violation of the UN Charter.”  According to him, Russia would “basically be free to use that ceasefire to further entrench its positions in Ukraine," to restore its forces and retrain its troops “so that they can then restart attacks.”

Washington does not think that this will lead to a just and durable peace that should take Ukraine’s interests into consideration. Kirby added that the United States intended to give Kiev “even more military aid” within days.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has unequivocally outlined the destructive position of the US and, accordingly, Ukraine by saying that the United States intends to continue supplying Kiev with weapons and military equipment rather than collaborate with Russia diplomatically in order to settle the crisis.

For our part, we have repeatedly stated that we are open to truly serious Western and Ukrainian proposals on the political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis, but that we do not accept the language of ultimatums.

To achieve a stable peace, it is necessary to cease supplying weapons and mercenaries to Ukraine, stop the hostilities, bring Ukraine back to its neutral, non-bloc status, and obtain an international recognition of the new territorial realities that have taken shape as a result of the implementation of people’s right to self-determination. Ukraine must be de-Nazified and demilitarised. All threats emanating from its territory should be removed. It is necessary to enshrine in law Ukraine’s nuclear-free status and guarantees of the rights of Russian speakers and ethnic minorities. An inalienable part of the settlement is cancelling all illegal sanctions and withdrawing all suits against Russia from international courts.

It would make sense for all countries wishing to contribute to normalising the situation to address their calls for peace to Kiev and its Western puppet-masters, who are increasingly drawing Kiev into the dangerous vortex of global confrontation.