The West is trying to convince countries in the Global South and the East to side with Ukraine, says the Russian Foreign Ministry.

TASS - The Davos meeting, scheduled for January 14, will be used by the West to deceive countries in the Global South and Global East through deception and blackmail into siding with Ukraine, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement. On January 14, Davos, Switzerland, will host the fourth meeting on Ukraine of the Copenhagen Group. Its organizers – Kyiv and Bern – have invited representatives from more than 70 countries and international organizations.

"The Davos meeting will be used by them [Western countries] to once again try to lure countries in the Global South and the Global East to their side through deception and blackmail. We are convinced that our partners in Asia, Africa, and Latin America will understand the real situation and will not allow themselves to be dragged into initiatives explicitly contrary to Russia," stated the communiqué published on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

According to Zakharova, Moscow has repeatedly explained the "lack of substance, hypocrisy, and detachment" from reality of Zelensky's "formula" and the Copenhagen meetings designed to promote it. 

"First of all, Zelensky's 'formula' is, in essence, a set of ultimatums to Russia. They are trying to force us to retreat from the liberated areas and leave the Russian people, who voted for reunification with their homeland, behind at the mercy of the Ukrainian Nazis. They seek to take our country to court and confiscate its legitimate assets in Western banks. Such ultimatums cannot establish the basis for the start of negotiations," she said. 

"The remaining items in Zelensky's 'formula' – relating to nuclear, food, energy and environmental security – were invented by Kyiv to deceive the target audience," he added. 

“Secondly, the legal ban on negotiations with the Russian leadership is in effect in Ukraine. Until it is lifted, discussions on any proposals are meaningless,” the diplomat reminded. “In April 2022, Kyiv ended negotiations with Russia at the behest of the West. For its part, our country has never refused political and diplomatic means to resolve the Ukraine crisis.”

Hypocrisy and categories of war

Furthermore, the Russian spokesperson noted that any talks on a solution to the Ukraine crisis without Russia's participation are meaningless, and while they promote Zelensky's Western-backed "formula" of ultimatums as having no alternative, Kyiv, along with its handlers, "usurps the very right to present peace initiatives" and blocks all rational ideas from other countries, primarily from the Global South and the Global East. 

"Meetings in the Copenhagen format do not discuss initiatives other than those in Kyiv," she added.

The diplomat emphasized that the hypocrisy of the Zelensky regime is vividly demonstrated by the fact that, while organizing a meeting in Davos to discuss a potential peace solution, it is coldly using cluster munitions to bomb civilian installations in Belgorod, Donetsk, and other Russian cities, deliberately killing civilians.

"In turn, the West supplies munitions to Kyiv, including cluster munitions and depleted uranium, pumps weapons into Kyiv, and facilitates the escalation and prolongation of hostilities. The aggressive rhetoric calling for inflicting a 'strategic defeat' on Russia has not diminished," Zakharova continued.

"All this shows the true colors of the leadership in Kyiv, Washington, London, and Brussels. Their fundamental approaches remain unchanged. They still think in terms of war and are guided by long-term plans to annihilate everything Russian, through civilizational confrontation with Russia and undermining its legitimate interests in the realm of international peace and security," said Zakharova.