Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova says Vladimir Zelensky is scrambling to shore up his position with talk of restarting negotiations with Russia. She made the remark while responding to his plan to travel to Turkey to renew contacts with Moscow on a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

As quoted by Lenta.ru, Zakharova described Zelensky’s moves as hurried attempts to manage the information agenda amid a fresh corruption scandal. She linked this activity to allegations involving his business partner Timur Mindich.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of a potential resumption of talks with Kyiv. He said Zelensky’s statement referred to his contacts with the U.S. president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.