Ukraine reacted to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia about Russiaʼs readiness for negotiations — they called it "another smoke screen" and "an imitation of dialogue."
The position was announced on November 9 by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko.
"The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia is another smoke screen. Russian officials are beginning to mention the talks every time Russian troops are defeated on the battlefield. Moscow is not interested in restoring peace in Ukraine. Simulating readiness for dialogue, the Russian Federation is trying to buy time to regroup its units, prepare newly mobilized Russians, solve the issue of lack of weapons, eliminate the shortcomings of logistics, and then resort to new waves of aggression with new forces. We already went through this in 2014-2015," said Oleg Nikolenko.
He added that the party interested in peace negotiations does not destroy cities and villages, does not kill civilians, and does not destroy energy infrastructure. Oleg Nikolenko reminded that Ukraine has repeatedly offered negotiations but received a disdainful reaction to them.
- On November 9, the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, declared readiness for negotiations with Ukraine "taking into account the realities at the moment."