Moscow says Kyiv's actions confirm ‘lack of desire’ for peace, settlement of conflict through ‘diplomatic means’

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday claimed that Ukraine’s actions confirmed Kyiv’s “lack of desire” for peace and to find a settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war through “political and diplomatic means.”

“The criminal actions of the Kyiv regime once again confirm Kyiv's lack of desire for peace and the settlement of the conflict through political and diplomatic means. The need to achieve all the goals and objectives of our special military operation is obvious. Threats to security and acts of terrorism should not emanate from the territory of Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said it “strongly condemned" the "terrorist acts" committed on Wednesday night against the Kremlin residence in Moscow, claiming that there is “no doubt” that Ukraine is behind the incident, which it said has “long and consciously supported and used terrorist methods against civilian infrastructure and the civilian population.”

It further said “terrorist and sabotage” activities by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are “gaining momentum unprecedentedly,” also saying that the incident is aggravated by it being an attempt to “assassinate” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It has long been no secret to the world community that the Kyiv regime is supported by Western countries that supply it with weapons, intelligence, train its militants and point them to targets. The silence of the ‘collective West’ testifies to its indulgence in the terrorist methods of the neo-Nazi and extremist regime in Kyiv,” it added.

It called on the world community and international organizations working “without double standards” to condemn the drone attack and to “force” Ukraine to “fulfill its obligations in the field of combating terrorism, international humanitarian law and the protection of human rights.”

“We confirm that the Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures against egregious attempts at terrorist acts. Russia will respond in accordance with the assessments of the threat that Kyiv has created for the leadership of our country,” it concluded.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Ukraine attempted to strike the residence with two drones, which, it said, were shot down on Tuesday night.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have since denied Kyiv’s involvement in the drone attack.