On June 10, Belarus Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov said that Ukraine appeared unprepared for peace, while criticizing Kiev for refusing to accept the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers who died. This statement was made before his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
After recent bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Moscow announced plans to return about 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers as a unilateral humanitarian act. On June 7, Russia tried to transfer the first batch of 1,212 bodies, but Ukraine did not appear at the meeting site, citing the reason for not agreeing on the handover time.
In an interview with Russia 24 channel, Mr. Ryzhenkov commented that this action shows that Ukraine is not really "prepared for peace", because that does not bring political or economic benefits to the Kiev government.
Of course, it may not be a political advantage to have to pay and admit that up to 6,000 people died in battle, he said. But what about their families? What about their loved ones?".
According to Mr. Ryzhenkov, Kiev has pledged to compensate the relatives of the fallen soldiers with an amount equivalent to nearly 367,000 USD, but many families have had to wait a long time and face a series of administrative barriers. He emphasized that burying the dead is part of the Eastern Methodist tradition.
On the contrary, Mr. Ryzhenkov said that Russia has shown goodwill towards peace through proposals to exchange prisoners and bodies of soldiers who died.
The Belarusian Foreign Minister also said that Ukraine is only being "persistently" by the West to participate in negotiations with Moscow, with the tactical purpose of testing Russia's reaction, to see if Russia is truly ready for talks, and whether it wants to continue the conflict.
After an interview with Russia 24, Mr. Ryzhenkov met with Mr. Lavrov to discuss strengthening strategic partnerships between Russia and Belarus, cooperation in international organizations and the situation in Ukraine.
