Alexey Polishchuk said there are around 20 proposals from different countries to mediate the conflict, but not all could be trusted.
The key condition that will allow peace talks between Ukraine and Russia to be a success will be negotiations proceeding without Western mediators, according to a senior Russian diplomat.
The director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Department of Commonwealth of Independent States, Alexey Polishchuk, made the comments in an interview with the state-run TASS news agency, which was published on Friday. "If and when those contacts [with Ukraine] are resumed, they will most likely be direct as well. And it would be the best option as experience has proven that Western mediators often pursue their own objectives and try to influence the talks, acting not for settlement of the conflict, but in their own political and economic interests," Polishchuk said when asked whether Moscow was willing to hold talks with Kyiv about ending the war.
Polishchuk added:"Until now we have only interacted with the Ukrainians directly, using the platforms that were kindly provided to us, which we really appreciate. Three rounds of the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue were held in Belarus and one in Turkey in February-April of last year."
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