Russia Snubs Trump's New Pitch For Ukraine Peace Talks, Calling It 'Inelegant'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat has just poured cold water on Donald Trump’s latest suggestion for Ukraine peace talks to be hosted in the Vatican.After his “excellent” two-hour phone call with his Russian counterpart on Monday, the US president claimed the Vatican “would be very interested in hosting the negotiations” to end Putin’s war.Pope Leo has yet to confirm the Vatican’s willingness to host – or mediate – discussions, saying it is not exactly a concrete plan right now.And, while Ukraine has already signalled it is willing to talk in the Vatican, it now appears Russia is ruling it out, calling it an “inelegant” idea.According to news agency Reuters, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Friday: “Many people are fantasising about when and where it (the meeting) will take place. We don’t have any ideas right now.“But imagine the Vatican as a venue for negotiations. It would be a bit inelegant for Orthodox countries to use a Catholic platform to discuss issues on how to remove the root causes (of the conflict).“I think it would not be very comfortable for the Vatican itself to host delegations from two Orthodox countries in these circumstances.”Ukraine and Russia held their first direct talks in more than three years earlier this month in Istanbul.It was Putin’s suggestion to speak directly, but he failed to attend, and sent a low-calibre delegation to negotiate on his behalf.Trump has been trying to force both parties to the table since he got into office, having boasted that he could end the war in 24 hours.But more than 100 days later and Putin has not even agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.Lavrov also launched a fresh attack on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, claiming Moscow would not allow Russian speakers to stay in Ukraine.He said it would be a “crime” for them to remain in Zelenskyy’s so-called ’junta”, referring to a political group who seize power by force.Moscow has long tried to undermine Zelenskyy’s position as the legitimate leader of Ukraine, even though he was won the 2019 presidential elections.A subsequent election was supposed to be held last year, but Ukraine is under martial law right now due to Russia’s ongoing invasion.Ukraine has also rejected any discrimination against Russian speakers.Related...Putin Is Putting People Older Than The Average Russian Life Expectancy In Positions Of Power, UK SaysUK Says Russian Troops Are 'Inept' At Handling Their Own Weapons After Latest 'Explosive' IncidentPutin Minister Finds A New Culprit To Blame For Dragging Out Ukraine War – And It's Not Russia

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