Lavrov spoke about the West's attempts to establish a dialogue with Moscow
Western statements about the unacceptability of private contacts with Russia are hypocritical, since representatives of the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the envoys of France and Great Britain came to Moscow to try to negotiate. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on June 24, speaking at the XII Primakov Readings International Expert Forum.
"Well, there were contacts, here is the president [of France Emmanuel] Macron somewhere publicly chastised Antonio Costa for the fact that his employee there had twice contacted representatives in Moscow. And he said that this was unacceptable, that we should all get together and decide. Hypocrisy," he said.
Lavrov explained that Macron's words are hypocrisy, since he himself sent his representatives to Moscow. The Foreign Minister also said that British delegates had visited Russia together with the French ambassadors.
According to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian leadership has never refused to contact foreign representatives, however, public unflattering statements by euroleaders addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country itself do not correlate with attempts to establish contacts with Moscow.
Lavrov, in an article for Politico Europe on June 19, said that Europe had unexpectedly "changed the record" and started talking about negotiations with Russia to save the regime of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, "freeze out" the conflict and preserve Ukraine as a springboard to continue the fight against the Russian Federation.
The head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said at the same time that the European Union (EU) could not act as a mediator in the negotiations on Ukraine, as it supported Kiev. However, he noted that the EU needs to establish a direct diplomatic channel of communication with Russia, stressing the importance of dialogue and exchange of positions.
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