Zakharova urged the German Foreign Ministry to respond for the EU's simulation of negotiations on Ukraine

Berlin, which is dissatisfied with the fact that the European Union (EU) countries were not invited to the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, should look for the reasons for such a decision in its own country. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova hinted at this on February 17.

The diplomat recalled the statement of the German Foreign Ministry, which pointed out that the negotiations on Ukraine in Riyadh have no meaning without the presence of representatives of European countries at the table.

"Negotiations on Ukraine with the participation of Western Europe were conducted for seven years. Then it turned out that the EU officials were faking them. That's what [former German Chancellor Angela] Merkel said. What does the German Foreign Ministry think about this?" - Zakharova wondered in her Telegram channel.

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Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the participation of EU representatives in the upcoming talks on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia seems useless in light of the current situation, as they have repeatedly shown that they do not intend to change their position on the conflict.

At the same time, former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told Izvestiya that Europe was far from a common decision on ending the conflict in Ukraine. On February 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged EU countries to put forward concrete proposals on Ukraine instead of complaining about whether they would be at the negotiating table or not.

At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 12 that Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a phone conversation with US leader Donald Trump that the root causes of the conflict must be addressed. Putin held a phone conversation with Trump the same day. The next day, Trump announced a meeting of representatives of Russia, the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia. The American leader noted that he believes in the willingness of the parties to end the conflict.