In Principle, He Could Have Done It If He Hadn't Been Sold: Zakharova

The words from Kyiv about peace are merely a cover; in reality, it continues to pursue the collective West's goal of delivering a strategic defeat to Russia. This was stated by Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during a broadcast on Sputnik radio, commenting on Ukraine's response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's proposal for a ceasefire.

“All the words about the world are just cover words; they are merely theatrical phrases, mere clichés, memes. Words that should be memorized and pronounced as theses. The goal is one, and it has been voiced by the collective West: to deliver a strategic defeat to Russia,” the diplomat said.

“What do you expect from those whom the United States has chosen as its tool? The tool itself does not determine what it should do and how it should be,” she added.

Regarding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Zakharova commented, “Initially bought by oligarch Igor Kolomoisky (who is on Russia's list of extremists and terrorists), and then resold to American owners, he cannot determine his own fate. He could have done it. He has declared himself as a person who is supposed to change Ukraine's fate. In principle, he could have done that, if he had not apparently been sold. But at this stage, expecting any independence from a tool that has been resold several times seems to me, at the very least, naïve, especially after the admission from Westerners that they have directly forbidden Zelensky to conduct any negotiations,” she emphasized.

It is noteworthy that Orban had proposed establishing a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine during a meeting with Zelensky in Kyiv on June 2, to utilize the halt in military operations for preparing peaceful negotiations with Russia. After the negotiations in Kyiv, Zelensky said nothing regarding Orban's proposal, but Ukraine's Deputy Chief of Staff Igor Zhovkva later stated that such initiatives could not be viewed separately from the other aspects of the settlement. At the end of his visit, the Hungarian Prime Minister mentioned in an interview with Die Weltwoche that his idea of a ceasefire was not very appealing to Zelensky. At the same time, Orban specified that Zelensky had certain doubts about it.