The secret meeting on Ukraine held in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh is a "publicity stunt" and an attempt to draw attention to the regime of Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
"This is an old and developed concept. The concept of attracting political attention to the Zelensky’s regime. Simply out [...], this is a publicity stunt for the Zelensky’s regime," Zakharova said on Sputnik radio.
She noted that such informational "hype" is created in order to maintain the illusion of political activity, "diverting the attention of the world audience away from the real processes of a possible settlement."
The spokeswoman also emphasized that this and similar meetings have nothing to do with resolving the Ukrainian crisis.
"These are two completely different topics, and in many ways they simply exclude each other for one simple reason: resolving the situation in Ukraine, this is, of course, painstaking work, this is work on the political and diplomatic track. Thus, naturally, it is a matter of both negotiations and [building] contacts," Zakharova added.
In late December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in interviews with Sputnik and Rossiya-24 TV that another meeting on Zelensky's so-called "peace formula" was held in complete secrecy with the participation of Western countries and some countries of the Global South.
At the same time, the minister explained that "those who participated in this meeting from [Russia’s] close allies […] did not promise anyone to keep any secrets from [Russia] on an issue that has to do with Russia."
According to the Western media, "no significant progress was achieved" at the meeting. It was reported that during the discussion, Ukraine's allies tried to "enlist support for the Kiev conditions for negotiations with Russia." At the same time, Ukraine and the G7 countries continued to "resist calls from countries in the Global South to engage directly with Russia" on this issue.
It was noted that while India, Turkey and Saudi Arabia took part in the meeting, Brazil, China and the United Arab Emirates did not send representatives.