Russia refutes reports about 'non-high-level' talks with Ukraine in Geneva

MOSCOW

Russia is unaware of what Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis meant when he said Russia and Ukraine are holding "non-high-level" talks in Geneva, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

Zakharova stressed in a comment on Telegram that earlier presidential advisor Vladimir Medinsky, appointed as the head of the Russian negotiating team with Ukraine "clearly and unambiguously" stated that he knows nothing about any talks.

Zakharova said Switzerland lost its neutral status when joined "illegal, unilateral anti-Russian sanctions," and therefore cannot serve as a mediator, including by providing its platforms for the negotiating process.

"I would also like to remind that by his Sep. 30, 2022 decree, V(olodymyr) Zelenskyy legislatively prohibited holding talks with the Russian leadership," said Zakharova.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law Sept. 30 prohibiting holding peace talks with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin serves as president.