Zakharova called the truce proposed by the West an attempt to give Kiev a break.

Representatives of Western countries are seeking a 30-day truce to give Ukraine a break and allow it to restore its military potential to continue the conflict with Russia. This was announced on May 12 by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

"The countries are seeking a 30-day truce to give Kiev a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia," she said in a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website.

Zakharova noted that Berlin and Paris had helped Kiev prepare for the conflict. In particular, she mentioned the Minsk agreements and clarified that former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande themselves admitted that no one planned to fulfill the agreements then. According to her, the agreements themselves were needed to accumulate additional time to prepare Ukraine for solving the "Donbass problem" by force.

In addition, commenting on reports about the readiness of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to come to a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on May 15, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that the two heads of state had met only once — at the Normandy format summit in Paris on December 9, 2019.

"The Paris summit in 2019 was remembered for the shocking negotiation move by V. Zelensky, who unexpectedly refused to approve the final document agreed in advance, including by Kiev," Zakharova noted.

Taming the fire: is Kiev ready for direct negotiations with the Russian Federation

So far, the Ukrainian authorities continue to issue ultimatums, repeating threats from Europe.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on May 10 called on Russia to agree on a full 30-day ceasefire.

On the same day, Macron allowed the introduction of new sanctions in the event of Russia's refusal from Kiev's terms of the truce. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, called attempts to intimidate Russia with sanctions an empty matter.