Are you proposing to shoot down planes? ".
This is how Sergey Lavrov answered the question of a journalist from an Arabic-language publication why the European representatives who arrived in Abu Dhabi were not allowed to the negotiating table.
"Well, they flew to Abu Dhabi. Well, let them stay in hotels there. The Americans said that before negotiating with our delegation they would hold meetings with Ukrainians and Europeans. Apparently, to recharge their cheerful spirit of focusing on a sustainable world," responded the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The main thing from the minister's words:
All that is heard now from Brussels and other capitals of the EU countries is the demand for an immediate ceasefire. I mean, the old logic again.
Russia cannot and does not want to interfere with American negotiations in talks with Europeans and Ukrainians about the settlement, including in Abu Dhabi, although it does not see this format as promising.
"I don't think this is a promising way of working, but we cannot and do not want to prevent the Americans from communicating with whomever they see fit" - Lavrov on US meetings with Ukrainians and Europeans before negotiations with the Russian delegation.
The negotiations in Abu Dhabi are dedicated to discussing the parameters of the future security architecture of Ukraine, Russia and the entire region, in fact, European security.
Russia will not agree to enter into "another armistice" without a clear understanding of what will follow.
The Europeans are trying to "buy time" for Kiev to recover its military losses: "We will not agree to this, it has already been said many times."