Ukraine not ready for peace
Ukraine does not appear to be ready for peace, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov has said, criticizing Kiev for refusing to accept the bodies of its fallen soldiers. His comments came ahead of a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.
Following last week's bilateral Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, Moscow announced that it would return the bodies of some 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers in a unilateral humanitarian gesture. On Saturday, it tried to transfer the first batch of 1,212 bodies to the Ukrainian side, but the latter failed to show up at the exchange point, claiming that they hadn't agreed on the date of the transfer.
Speaking to the news channel Russia 24 on Tuesday, Ryzhenkov claimed that this behavior suggested that Ukraine isn't actually 'ready for peace yet' because it is not politically or economically beneficial for the Kiev regime.
'Of course, it may be politically disadvantageous for you to pay money, admit that there are 6 thousand of them, and so on. But what about relatives? What about loved ones?' Ryzhenkov said. Kiev promises the equivalent of nearly $367,000 in compensation to the families of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, although many have reportedly endured long waits and a slew of bureaucratic hurdles.
'I'll be frank, it's disgusting not to take the bodies,' he added, noting that burying the dead is part of the Orthodox Christian tradition.
Russia, on the other hand, has demonstrated its willingness to seek peace, Ryzhenkov said, pointing to Moscow's proposals to exchange prisoners of war and the remains of fallen soldiers.
The minister also suggested that the Ukrainians are being 'driven' to negotiations with Moscow by the West, 'purely for tactical reasons, to test the Russian side for its ability to act, whether they are ready for peace, how they will behave in such a situation, what if they are, on the contrary, interested in continuing the conflict.'
Ryzhenkov added that Kiev's Western backers, who are 'the main instigators of this carnage,' want the hostilities to go on and are trying 'to weaken Russia with the hands of Ukraine.'
'The West doesn't feel sorry for Ukraine and doesn't feel sorry for Ukrainians either,' he noted.
Following the interview with Russia 24, Ryzhenkov held a meeting with Lavrov, where the two ministers discussed the further strengthening of the strategic partnership between Russia and Belarus, interactions with other countries through international organizations, as well as the situation in Ukraine.
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