Russia calls European diplomacy over Ukraine ‘insignificant'
"The Europeans verbally support the diplomatic efforts of Washington and Moscow to resolve the crisis around Ukraine, but in fact the European Union is sabotaging them," he said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders were to hold urgent talks with Trump on Wednesday, hoping to convince him to respect Kyiv's interests in his looming summit with Putin on Friday.
The summit is so far planned to go ahead without Zelenskyy, which has fuelled fears that Kyiv could be forced into painful concessions, notably over land.
Zelenskyy has called for a full ceasefire – a proposal which Russia has rejected.
Ahead of the conference call, Zelenskyy, who has spoken with more than 30 international leaders in the last few days, said "pressure must be exerted on Russia for the sake of a fair peace".
EU leaders stressed on Tuesday "the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny" and that "international borders must not be changed by force".
But Fadeev on Wednesday said the EU rhetoric "about supposed support for finding peaceful solutions is just another attempt to stall the settlement process".
"We will monitor the actions of European countries in connection with the upcoming summit and hope that no steps will be taken that would prevent it from taking place and reaching constructive agreements," he said.
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