Zakharova called on the West to stop supplying weapons to Kyiv if it wants talks

(Patria) - If the West wants talks about Ukraine, it should stop supplying Kyiv with weapons, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, commenting on the statement by Swiss Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis that Russia should be included in peace talks, TASS reported.

Addressing a press conference in Davos earlier in the day, Cassis said that efforts are being made to involve Russia in peace talks on Ukraine mediated by other countries and emphasized that a peace conference cannot be held without Russia's participation.

"If it is about the desire of some countries to find a way out of the deadlock that Washington has led them into, that is one thing. In that case, they should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, stop imposing anti-Russian sanctions, and stop making Russophobic statements," she told the Izvestia newspaper.

"If this rhetoric is aimed at drawing Russia into some kind of psychedelic process under Western terms to influence Russia's principled approaches, we will not be lured into this trap," Zakharova said.