Russian Foreign Minister responds to rumours about Russia asking for talks with Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that recent report about Moscow allegedly asking for negotiations with Kyiv to buy time and build up additional forces were nothing but rumours.

"This is both funny and unpleasant — because people lie, they lie openly,” Lavrov said.

Russia has never asked for any negotiations, Lavrov said, adding that Russia was always ready to listen to the other side provided that Russia was interested in the negotiated solution.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Minister said that Moscow does not need to strive to be part of European diplomacy. Instead, Moscow needs to understand when sane people appear in European diplomacy.

On November 29, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that negotiations with Ukraine were currently impossible due to the position of Kyiv.

"Indeed, no negotiations can be possible now, because the Ukrainian side absolutely denies them. The special military operation continues,” he explained.