PHNOM PENH: Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said that Ukraine is ready to partake in a fair negotiation process for peace when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith, however, he said Russia’s current call for peace negotiations is only just a “smokescreen.”

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, 12 November 2022, at the Sokha Hotel in Phnom Penh during the ASEAN Summit, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said that all wars end with diplomacy. He added that Russia’s crimes in Ukraine, including “torture rooms and mass graves of civilians,” does not make the process of diplomacy easy, however, Ukraine is ready to partake in fair negotiations for peace as long as Russia is ready to discuss the matter seriously. He said previous attempts at negotiation simply consisted of basic talks and pictures taken for the press instead of concrete plans.

The Foreign Minister explained that Russia would speak of negotiations in the evening and then fire missiles to Ukraine in the morning. He further pointed to the destruction of energy infrastructure, which had nothing to do with the military and only affected Ukrainian civilians.

“Russia has to approach talks in good faith, As of now, everything we see is the attempt of Russia to use negotiations, calls for negotiation, as a smokescreen for its continued aggression on the ground," said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister continued to ask for support from world leaders and said that the worst thing a country could do during this war is to do and say nothing.