Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says any step that can move the Ukrainian crisis toward a settlement matters — but in her view, the Kiev authorities and European states are deliberately downplaying the role of talks.

Speaking on Sputnik radio, Zakharova argued that it is the Kiev regime and its European backers who consistently dismiss negotiations as unnecessary or meaningless, thereby, as she put it, devaluing and «pessimising» the entire diplomatic process. She contrasted this stance with Moscow’s approach, saying Russia has repeatedly demonstrated that it wants to reach peace and genuinely values the limited opportunities for dialogue that still exist.

According to Zakharova, Western countries together with Ukraine will continue to derail peace initiatives and will use every available tool to do so. She insisted that Russia, unlike Kiev and its European partners, is interested in making use of the current negotiation formats rather than sabotaging them.

On 18 February, a second round of talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine took place in Geneva. Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky described the discussions as difficult but businesslike and said another round of negotiations on a Ukrainian settlement is expected in the near future.