Proposed talks of diplomacy come 'at the barrel of a gun': State Dept.
The State Department expressed doubts Friday that Moscow-led efforts to set up talks between Kyiv and the Kremlin in Minsk, Belarus, could yield any meaningful results against the backdrop of an ongoing invasion.
"You've heard us say before that over the course of several weeks leading up to the events that we've seen recently in Ukraine -- the assault on Ukraine, its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and really, its people -- that Moscow engaged in a pretense of diplomacy," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during a briefing. "Now, we see Moscow suggesting that diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun, or as Moscow's rockets, mortars, artillery, target the Ukrainian people. This is not real diplomacy. Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy."
Price added that if Putin were serious about diplomacy, "He should immediately stop the bombing campaign against civilians, order the withdrawal of his forces from Ukraine, and indicate very clearly -- unambiguously to the world -- that Moscow is prepared to de-escalate. We have not seen that yet."
When pressed on if the U.S. would still support Ukraine entering into such talks, or if the State Department had specifically advised Ukraine against engaging with Russia, Price largely demurred, but said that the countries were "operating in pure lockstep."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford and Zoha Qamar
