Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday suggesting Kyiv had presented it with a draft peace deal that deviated from proposals both sides had previously agreed on.
Podolyak told Reuters in a written statement that Lavrov was not directly involved in negotiations and his statements were “of purely propagandistic significance.”
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Podolyak said Moscow wanted to divert attention from events in the town of Bucha, where Ukraine accuses Russian troops of killing civilians, and added: “That is how any such statements should be regarded.”
Moscow denies targeting civilians in Ukraine and has said the deaths in Bucha were a “monstrous forgery” staged by the West to discredit it.
Read more: Russia’s Lavrov says Ukraine presented ‘unacceptable’ draft peace deal
