WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia’s offer for talks with Ukraine was an attempt to conduct diplomacy “at the barrel of a gun,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday, saying Russia must stop its bombing in Ukraine if it is serious about diplomacy.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Pescov said earlier on Friday that Russia was ready to send a delegation to the Belarusian capital Minsk for talks.
Washington has not seen any indication Russian leader Vladimir Putin is willing to de-escalate in Ukraine, Price told reporters at a regular press briefing.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
