Russian Foreign Ministry says Europe rejects diplomatic solution to Ukraine conflict

European politicians openly express their rejection of a possible diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has said on 18 February. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on February 18.

"They (European politicians. - Ed.) simply threw away all decency, openly express their rejection of the outlined possible contours for a substantive conversation on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis by diplomatic means," she specified.

Zakharova noted that Brussels is betting on a military solution to the conflict, although such a policy, she said, "runs counter to the genuine interests of the entire continent".

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The Washington Post also reported that European leaders are developing a strategy to send 25,000-30,000 troops to Ukrainian territory, allegedly to provide security guarantees after a peaceful settlement. However, the Financial Times reported that at the informal meeting of the EU leaders in Paris the previous day, disagreements emerged over sending peacekeepers to Ukrainian territory.

For his part, Duma deputy and first deputy chairman of the State Duma's defense committee Aleksey Zhuravlev told Izvestiya on 18 February that the refusal of Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain to send their own troops to Ukraine was due to their understanding of the gravity of the consequences of this step.