Foreign Ministry: Negotiations with Kiev impossible after attack on Kursk

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference that Russia would not enter into negotiations with the Kiev regime following Ukraine's terrorist attack on the Kursk region, News.Az reports, citing TASS.

“In June of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin, I think one could even say in a gesture of goodwill, put forward quite realistic proposals. They aimed at a long-term and fair solution. The criminal terror regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Instead of seriously considering these – in my opinion, to put it mildly, the most generous proposals of the Russian side, Zelensky carried out a bloody terrorist attack on the Kursk region and its residents. I would say the attack was suicidal for the Zelensky regime,” she said. “Ukrainian militants and foreign mercenaries are committing atrocities, shooting civilians and volunteers, attacking civilian infrastructure, targeting journalists and endangering nuclear power plants. Well, what kind of peace talks can there be under such conditions, and with whom can one [they] take place? Of course, peace talks with the terrorist regime in Kiev are out of the question.”

Zakharova stressed that “this lawlessness is taking place with the full tolerance of the West and its encouragement of the terrorist activities of the Kiev regime.”

“It is clear that neither Kiev, nor the United States, nor their NATO subordinates need a solution. They are, as they have already said, interested in inflicting the greatest possible damage on Russia. Accordingly, this delays any solution and contributes to the escalation of the conflict,” Zakharova said.

She warned that terrorism was “spreading and developing into an international terrorist movement whose origins lie on European soil.”

“Yes, the fertilizers are American, but the soil is European, and these terrorist germs have sprung up on it and are now spreading all over the world,” she said. “The Kiev regime is a terrorist organization that, as we now see, has already reached the African continent.”

Ukraine's massive attack on the Kursk region began on August 6. A state of emergency has been declared there at the federal level and missile alerts have been repeatedly declared. Civilians are being evacuated from the border areas. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there are 197 temporary accommodation centers in 28 regions of Russia. More than 11,500 people are currently staying there, including more than 3,500 children.

The Russian Defense Ministry says Kyiv has lost more than 7,000 soldiers and 74 tanks since the start of hostilities in the Kursk region. The operation to suppress the Ukrainian invasion is ongoing.

News.Az