The art of diplomacy is to deliver a message to your interlocutors in a respectful way, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has explained.
The Russian government does not use foul language in communications with other countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Financial Times reported last week that French President Emmanuel Macron’s advisers, Emmanuel Bonne and Bertrand Buchwalter, secretly visited Moscow in February to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov.
According to an unnamed European diplomat who spoke to the agency, Macron’s representatives asked the EU to be involved in peace talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine, but the meeting ended with Ushakov telling the guests: “I’m sorry, really, no we (don’t have to), f**k you’.”
Asked to comment by Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday, Peskov replied: “No, none of us ever use foul language to refer to anyone.”
“You know, there is a wise saying of a wise diplomat. What is diplomacy? It is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in a way that he intended to go there.” He said.
Peskov was referring to a quote attributed to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”
Last week, Peskov confirmed to the FT that a visit by French advisers had taken place but said that they “it didn’t bring any positive signs.”
“Unfortunately, Europeans they are using all their efforts to convince the Ukrainians to continue the war. We are sure that the Europeans are making mistakes in their view of the future,” he said.
Russia is winning on the battlefield in the Ukraine conflict, but “As President Putin said, we are ready for a diplomatic solution,” the spokesperson added.
Delegates from Moscow, Washington, and Kiev have held three rounds of talks since the beginning of this year, with the latest talks taking place in Geneva in mid-February. The fourth meeting was scheduled to take place at the beginning of March but had to be canceled due to the attacks of the United States and Israel against Iran. Peskov clarified on Thursday that the pause in talks is temporary and will resume at some point.
