ISTANBUL

Russia said late Wednesday that Ukraine and the West will use the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 15-19 to “deceive and blackmail” the Global South and Global East to their side.​​​​​​​

“Together with the members of the G-7, the Kyiv regime will again deceptively persuade countries of the Global South and East to support pseudo-peace proposals based on (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy’s odious formula,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published by the ministry.

Zelenskyy's formula, which consists of 10 conditions, was laid out at the 2022 G-20 summit held in Indonesia, with its final step being signing a peace accord. It also focuses on issues such as nuclear safety and food and energy security.

Stressing that the peace formula proposed by Zelenskyy is made up of a set of ultimatums that “cannot serve as a basis for starting negotiations,” Zakharova said the formula’s points on nuclear, food, energy and environmental security were “invented” to mislead its target audience.

She said that discussions on a possible peace formula for the Russia-Ukraine war have “no practical significance” while Kyiv legally cannot participate in talks with Moscow, further expressing that Russia never abandoned diplomatic means of resolving the conflict.

Zakharova went on to say that any talk about a settlement in Ukraine without Russia’s participation is “meaningless,” adding the West is blocking other peace initiatives by promoting Ukraine’s peace formula as having no alternative.

She also called Ukraine’s preparations to discuss prospects for a peace settlement in Davos while conducting airstrikes on multiple Russian cities as “hypocrisy.”

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged accusations over airstrikes against each other that have intensified since late December.

“All this demonstrates the true intentions of the Kyiv leadership, Washington, London and Brussels…They will use the meeting in Davos to once again try to win over the countries of the Global South and East to their side through deception and blackmail,” she said.

“We are convinced that our partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America are fully aware of the real state of affairs and will not allow themselves to be drawn into openly anti-Russian initiatives,” she added.