Ukraine foreign minister claims Moscow 'wants war', sceptical over efforts to end war with Russia

Baghdad, Iraq: On Monday, the foreign minister of Ukraine questioned attempts to end his country’s war with Russia, claiming that Moscow “wants war” while on a visit to Iraq.

Dmytro Kuleba’s trip is the first one by a Ukrainian foreign minister to Baghdad in eleven years.

It happens after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Bagdad in February, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.

At a joint press conference, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Baghdad was ready to “help the two parties to first reach a ceasefire, then to start discussions”.

However, Kuleba appeared doubtful that peace efforts would succeed.

“Russia is seeking war. And this is the biggest impediment, the biggest hurdle on the way to peace,” he told reporters.

“You don’t behave like this when you want peace. So whatever Russian officials are saying… today Russia wants war,” Kuleba said.

“We need Russia to agree with a very simple fact: it has to stop the war and withdraw from the territory of Ukraine. This will give space to diplomacy.”

Offers to mediate in the Ukraine-Russia conflict have multiplied in recent weeks.

On Sunday in Abu Dhabi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had discussed joint mediation with China and the United Arab Emirates, and accused the United States and Europe of prolonging the conflict.

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On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement he had “discussed the next steps in the organisation of a peace summit” with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In 2021 and 2022 Iraq mediated several rounds of talks between officials from regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Last month, Riyadh and Tehran announced in China that they would be resuming diplomatic ties severed in 2016.

Hussein said on Monday of Ukraine and Russia: “When the two parties are convinced that dialogue is necessary, Baghdad will be at the service of both.”

Iraq maintains good economic ties with both Kyiv and Moscow and has adopted a neutral stance since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

While it has secured support from the West, Ukraine is on a mission to bolster diplomatic support among emerging countries, especially in the Middle East and Asia.

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