Moscow loses trust in Kiev negotiators

Maria Zakharova, an official representative for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the Russian side had lost confidence in Ukrainian negotiators.

In an interview with Russia 24 TV channel, Zakharova commented on the process of the talks between Russia and Ukraine and said that Moscow had long been distrustful of Kiev.

"Here it's not like "trust and verify” — it's only "verify”, because there is no trust in those people for long,” the diplomat said.

Zakharova also said that Russia was prepared for Ukraine's inconsistent behaviour in the negotiations. Kiev uses the talks as a deception manevoure, she said.

"From the side of the office of the person who calls himself the president of Ukraine and is endowed with appropriate powers, a request was made to conduct negotiations. Russia did not decline the request. Afterwards, as always, there was nothing but circus on the part of the Kiev regime, both in literal and figurative terms. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't, sometimes they participate, sometimes they don't. <…> Was Moscow ready for this? Yes, of course,” Zakharova said.

Earlier, Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), commented on the proposal from UN Secretary General António Guterres on humanitarian truce for the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Pushilin called such an initiative potentially dangerous as the Ukrainian side may take advantage of the ceasefire to regroup its forces and strengthen its positions.