The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the rupture of diplomatic relations by Ukraine was the choice of the current authorities of the country and a logical continuation of their policy pursued since 2014.

“This is not our choice.

The rupture of diplomatic relations is the logical conclusion of the purposeful Russophobic policy of the Kiev authorities since the bloody coup of 2014, the rupture of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership in 2018 and a whole bunch of laws aimed at discriminating against the rights and freedoms of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine, ”RIA Novosti quotes a commentary from the foreign policy departments of the Russian Federation.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the break in diplomatic relations with Moscow.

“We have severed diplomatic relations with Russia,” he said during a speech.

In turn, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is ready for diplomatic cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities, if they, for their part, are ready to discuss the issues raised by Moscow.

“The President formulated his vision of what we would expect from Ukraine in order for the conceptual “red-linear” problems to be resolved.

This is a neutral status, this is a refusal to deploy weapons.

The question here is: is the leadership of Ukraine ready for this?”

Peskov stressed.

On the evening of February 24, Vladimir Zelensky said that Kiev was ready to return to the path of peace.

“Ukraine did not choose the path of war, but Ukraine offers to return to the path to peace,” Zelensky’s Telegram channel says under the publication of his video message.

Prior to this, a group of Ukrainian deputies led by Vadim Novinsky from the Opposition Bloc party called on the president of the republic to immediately begin negotiations with the Russian Federation "on the conditions for ending the bloody confrontation and concluding an appropriate agreement."

The appeal on behalf of seven politicians was published on Novinsky's Facebook page.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the evacuation of the Russian Embassy in Kiev.

According to the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, there are no Russian diplomats left in the territory of the neighboring republic.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also began the removal of embassy employees from Moscow, as reported by the press service of the department.

"The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has recalled Vasily Pokotilo, Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine in the Russian Federation, to Kiev for consultations and has begun evacuating the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow," TASS quoted the press service as saying.

At the same time, it is specified that "the consular offices of Ukraine on the territory of the Russian Federation continue to work as usual."

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, also indicated Moscow's readiness to resume a dialogue that would return the world community to justice and the principles of the UN Charter.

“Unfortunately, our Western friends do not respect international law, trying to destroy it and promote what they call “rules-based order,” the head of Russian diplomacy said.

Minsk proposal

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko proposed holding new talks between Russia and Ukraine in Minsk.

However, he stressed that for this Kiev will have to fulfill a number of conditions.

“In order to... stop the escalation, you need to sit down at the negotiating table, but Russia will never sit down with them at the negotiating table if you do not first agree on the issues that will be discussed.

Russia prescribed them for NATO, and for America, and for Ukraine as well.

Five or six questions.

There are two or three questions for Ukraine.

The first is the demilitarization of Ukraine, preventing Ukraine from joining NATO and stopping military operations against Donetsk and Luhansk,” Lukashenka said at an operational meeting with Belarusian military leaders.

  • Alexander Lukashenko

  • © president.gov.by

At the same time, according to Lukashenka, the matter should not be limited only to discussion, it is also necessary to prepare drafts of specific decisions.

“We are Slavs, three Slavic peoples.

Let's sit down and decide our fate for the future forever.

What is the basis of this?

If I were Zelensky, I would cling to this.

Putin said: "We are not occupiers, we are not going to occupy Ukraine."

What else does?

This is the basis for negotiations,” the President of Belarus stressed.

special operation

It should be noted that the day before, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that he was refusing a face-to-face meeting with Sergei Lavrov, which was to be held on February 24 in Geneva.

Blinken justified his decision by saying that Russia supposedly "makes it clear that it completely rejects diplomacy" and that "holding this meeting at the moment is pointless."

On the morning of February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to launch a special military operation against Ukraine.

In a special televised address to the citizens of the country, the president stressed that Russia "cannot feel safe, develop, exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of Ukraine."

The Russian leader recalled that in December last year, Moscow made another attempt to agree with the United States and its allies on the principles of ensuring security in Europe and on the non-expansion of NATO, but it turned out to be futile.

The President of the Russian Federation added that the circumstances that have developed in the security sphere require "decisive and immediate actions" from the Russian side.

“The people’s republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.

In this regard, in accordance with Art.

51, part 7 of the UN Charter, with the sanction of the Federation Council and in pursuance of the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with the DPR and LPR ratified by the Federal Assembly, I decided to conduct a special military operation, ”said Vladimir Putin.

He urged the Ukrainian military not to follow the criminal orders of the Kiev authorities, lay down their arms and go home.

A few hours after the start of the operation, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Russian Armed Forces were not inflicting any strikes on the cities of Ukraine.

At the same time, the military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, air defense facilities, airfields and aviation were hit by high-precision weapons.

Nothing threatens the peaceful population of the republic, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed.

The Russian military subsequently reported that Ukrainian border guards did not offer any resistance, Ukrainian air defense systems were suppressed, and military infrastructure, including military air bases, was disabled.

“There were only destructive actions”


Experts interviewed by RT believe that in the current realities, Kiev has no other alternatives but to start new negotiations with the Russian Federation.

“The fact is that the current Ukrainian leadership, in principle, has not done anything constructive during its time in power: both the first change in the person of Poroshenko and Zelensky.

There were only destructive actions: both in relations with the LNR and the DNR, and in the dialogue with Russia.

Therefore, the Ukrainian leadership needs to carefully consider this initiative of Belarus and take some practical steps to implement it, ”said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, in a conversation with RT.

  • Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kiev

  • RIA News

  • © Stringer

From his point of view, Alexander Lukashenko outlined all the necessary conditions for successful negotiations, which may well be implemented.

“Even a mediocre politician is quite capable of fulfilling these conditions.

So everything has to move in that direction.

But the fact is that the absence of diplomatic relations does not mean the absence of relations between countries in principle, just that diplomatic relations involve direct negotiations.

Usually, if this kind of interaction between countries is interrupted, then some other state acts as a representative of one of the parties that broke off diplomatic relations.

I think that in this situation, Belarus could represent both the direct platform for maintaining dialogue and the interests of Russia, ”the analyst emphasized.

From the point of view of political scientist Anna Aryamova, the conclusion of new peace agreements is the only possible way to resolve the current situation.

“I really want to believe that the Ukrainian authorities will now be able to make a sound decision and start negotiations, designate the boundaries within which our states will legally operate, and fulfill these agreements.

Because we already had the Minsk agreements, which Kiev sabotaged.

This (new agreements. - 

RT

) is really the best way out at the moment, and I want to believe that the Ukrainian authorities have enough political will to take this step, ”the expert believes.

At the same time, she drew attention to the fact that now statesmen are in power in Ukraine, whose political independence is limited.

“The Kiev authorities do not realize the interests of the Ukrainian people and the state.

Even if now Zelensky really wants to take important steps regarding the future of his country, it is not certain that he will succeed.

One thing is the lack of political will, but another thing is the lack of political opportunities,” Aryamova explained.

“There are no other diplomatic moves.

It remains only to sit down at the negotiating table on the territory of Belarus, Kazakhstan, in Moscow or Kiev - this is the only possible next step available to the Ukrainian government.

We cannot compare the military power of Russia and Ukraine.

Accordingly, the Kiev side is not capable of military exploits.

The future lies only with diplomacy,” concluded Aryamova.