Ukraine on Wednesday dismissed comments by ex-German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that Russia wanted a “negotiated solution” to the war and said any dialogue would be contingent on a Russian ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Schroeder, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and increasingly derided in Germany for his pro-Russia stance, said last month’s agreement on grain shipments from Ukraine, aimed at easing a global food crisis, might offer a way forward.
The first grain ship since the war started passed through the Bosphorus Strait on Wednesday en route to Lebanon.
“The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution,” Schroeder told Stern weekly and broadcasters RTL/ntv, adding he had met Putin in Moscow last week. “A first success is the grain deal, perhaps that can be slowly expanded to a ceasefire.”
In response, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described Schroeder as a “voice of the Russian royal court” and made clear that the grain agreement would not lead to negotiations.
“If Moscow wants dialogue, the ball is in its court. First — a cease-fire and withdrawal of troops, then — constructive (dialogue),” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said there was nothing more cynical than “Putin’s henchmen” saying Russia is ready for peace talks.
“We hear and see this ‘readiness’ every day: artillery strikes, missile terror against civilians, mass atrocity crimes. Russia remains focused on war, everything else is just a smokescreen,” he wrote on Twitter.
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