Foreign Minister Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the Copenhagen-format meeting in Davos on Ukraine

On January 14, Davos, Switzerland, will be hosting the fourth Copenhagen-format meeting on Ukraine. Its organisers – Kiev and Bern, formerly a neutral party – have invited representatives from over 70 countries and international organisations to attend the event. It goes without saying that the Kiev regime, together with the Group of Seven members, will once again use deceit in order to persuade the countries of the Global South and East to support the would-be peaceful proposals stemming from the so-called Zelensky formula, an infamously odious framework.

The Foreign Ministry has consistently criticised the Zelensky formula and the Copenhagen-format meetings designed to promote it for their shortcomings, hypocrisy and lack of connection to reality.

First, the Zelensky formula consists of a series of ultimatums targeting Russia. They are trying to force us to withdraw from the liberated territories and abandon Russians who voted to reunite with their homeland. This would amount to handing them over to the vicious Ukrainian nationalists. They want to hold a tribunal over our country and confiscate assets that belong to us from the Western banks where they are deposited. Ultimatums of this kind cannot serve as a foundation for launching talks. The Zelensky formula also contains provisions dealing with nuclear, food, energy and environmental security, but they are all Kiev’s concoctions designed to mislead the target audience.

Second, Ukraine has enacted a legal ban on holding talks with the Russian leadership. As long as this ban remains in place, discussing any proposals will not yield tangible results. In April 2022, Kiev followed Western orders and withdrew from negotiations with Russia. However, our country has never rejected any means for achieving a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Third, discussing a settlement in Ukraine without involving Russia is senseless.

Fourth, Kiev has been pushing the ultimatums contained in the Zelensky formula as the only possible solution with no room for alternatives. This position has been supported by the West. In doing so, Kiev and its masters have monopolised the right to put forward peace initiatives, effectively blocking all reasonable ideas from other countries, primarily from the Global South and East. The agenda of the Copenhagen-format meetings does not include any other initiatives.

Fifth, Zelensky has been bombing civilian sites with cluster munitions in Belgorod, Donetsk and other Russian cities, intentionally killing civilians, all while preparing the Davos meeting to discuss the prospects of a peace settlement. This puts the hypocrisy of his regime in full view. As for the West, it has been supplying ammunitions to Kiev, including cluster and depleted uranium bombs, and delivering more weapons, which does nothing but escalate hostilities and prolong the conflict. The aggressive rhetoric with calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia continues unabated.

All of this demonstrates the true intentions of the leadership in Kiev, Washington, London and Brussels. They have not altered their approaches in any meaningful way and continue thinking in terms of war with the long-term objective of destroying everything Russian, perpetuating the civilisational confrontation with Russia and undermining its legitimate interests in the field of global peace and security. They will use the Davos meeting to once again use falsehoods and blackmail in order to win the support of the Global South and East.

We are convinced that our partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America fully understand the reality of the situation and will not allow themselves to be drawn into openly anti-Russian initiatives.