Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend their annual press conference in Moscow, 18 January 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE / MAXIM SHIPENKOV

The Russian Foreign Ministry has denied that the ongoing Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) incursion into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region derailed secret peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told journalists on Sunday that there was quite simply “nothing to derail” and that there had been “no direct or indirect negotiations between Russia and the Kiev regime on the security of civilian critical infrastructure facilities”.

The only contact between Russia and Kyiv was done through intermediaries and related solely to humanitarian issues, primarily the exchange of prisoners, Zakharova continued. She then accused Ukraine of war crimes and bemoaned its unwillingness to enter a dialogue based on Putin’s peace proposals. She said Russia had no desire to talk to those who “ignore goodwill gestures”.

Zakharova likened the AFU offensive in the Kursk region to the US bombing of Hiroshima in World War II as both occurred on the same date, 6 August. She also accused Ukraine of mounting nuclear provocations, while describing Russia as a “peacekeeper”.

On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that the Kursk offensive had derailed secret Qatari-led efforts to broker a partial ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. The warring parties had been set to hold indirect talks in Doha to agree ending strikes on energy and power infrastructure, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said.