Berlin should make diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian ambassador to Brazil Andrey Melnik, who previously headed the diplomatic mission in Germany, said in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung.
“Personally, I think the Chancellor Olaf Scholz could be creative and use existing German diplomatic channels to find out whether negotiations with (the Russian president) Vladimir) Putin make sense. Germany still has an embassy in Moscow. And the most important thing is that we, Ukrainians, trust the Germans.” – said the diplomat.
Melnik said he had noticed new signals from Russia about the readiness of China, Brazil and India to mediate.
“From my point of view, it would be premature to say whether Ukraine is ready for this.” — the ambassador noted and explained that, for example, there is a lack of trust between the leaders of Ukraine and Brazil.
About a week ago, Melnyk was reminded that as ambassador to Germany he had repeatedly harshly criticised Scholz and called him “an offended liverwurst”. Upon arriving in Brazil, the diplomat refrains from this style of communication.
“The Germans are quite scrupulous people and at certain stages they did not have the opportunity to determine the “red lines”, in Brazil they do it, believe me, in a very harsh and rude way. “Directly in the face, even with threats”, explained the ambassador.
The Russian side previously refused to consider Germany as a suitable candidate for the role of mediator, as it considers it to be involved in the conflict on the side of kyiv. According to the Foreign Ministry, Germany, along with the United States, France and Great Britain, discredited itself by its support for the change of power in Ukraine on Euromaidan and “Kiev’s sabotage of the Minsk agreements.” “They are not interested in resolving the crisis and are doing everything to prolong the confrontation as much as possible,” the department is confident.
Ukrainian officials would like the West to end the conflict before winter, he said. Vladimir Zelensky.
Moscow refuses to resolve the conflict on the basis of the “peace formula” proposed by kyiv and demands that Ukraine accept “new territorial realities”. In June, President Vladimir Putin said that the situation with the peace treaty could be resolved, but that Ukraine’s initiative was needed.
