Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's attempt to secure direct NATO assistance in the conflict between their countries was not helping talks between the two sides. Read more
"Zelenskiy's constant angry statements do not increase optimism,” Lavrov told reporters on Saturday.
In particular, he cited Zelenskiy's strong criticism of the Western military alliance on Friday for refusing to intervene in the conflict by preventing Russian missiles and fighter jets from using Ukrainian airspace.
"My question is: If he is so upset that NATO has not intervened on his behalf as he hoped, then he expects to resolve the conflict by involving NATO in all of this and not through talks?” Lavrov said.
Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was open to talks with Lavrov, but only if they were "meaningful."
Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air on February 24, in what it calls a "special military operation."
Wary of being dragged into Moscow's war against its neighbor, NATO on Friday rejected Zelensky's call to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine, prompting the Ukrainian president to say the alliance had given Russia the green light to continue its bombing campaign.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations from Moscow and Kiev have held two rounds of talks, the most recent on Thursday, after which they said they had agreed on the need to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, but not much more.
Lavrov said Moscow was ready for a third round but had not received new dates from the Ukrainian side, which he said was inventing pretexts to delay the process.
The Kremlin said on Friday that progress in the negotiations would depend on Kiev's reaction to Moscow's position on how to end the war, which was conveyed to Ukraine on Thursday.
