Russia assesses possibility of ending Ukraine conflict

Western nations are stalling the conflict in Ukraine to cause more damage to Russia, but the longer it lasts, the more difficult it will be to end with a peaceful solution, a senior Russian diplomat has stated.

Ukraine’s current position makes diplomatic contact with Russia impossible, Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, told the Financial Times on Sunday.

The US and its allies are using the hostilities in Ukraine “as a matter of pressure on Russia, as a tool of isolation of Russia … damaging our position, economically, politically,” he said.

Consequently, Kiev broke off direct talks with Russia in March, which promised a potential resolution to the conflict, the diplomat said. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed the talks with Russia were no longer possible after accusing Russia in April of committing war crimes in the town of Bucha near Kiev. Russia denied the allegations.

Zelensky repeatedly said he was ready to talk to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the conflict, but would do so only after all Russian troops withdrew to the pre-2014 positions. Moscow believes this indicated that there was no “practical platform” for a Putin-Zelensky meeting, Gatilov said.

“Now, I do not see any possibility for diplomatic contacts,” Gatilov told the British newspaper. “And the more the conflict goes on, the more difficult it will be to have a diplomatic solution.”

Russian ties with Western nations have likewise become virtually non-existent, and the delegation he leads has no formal or personal contacts with any Western counterparts, he added.

Russia believes that the US does not care about the interests of Russia’s neighbor and wants to fight Russia “to the last Ukrainian,” the diplomat said.