Russian statements about the war in Ukraine - or anything else under the present regime - obey key rules. First: never admit to anything. Second: lying to mislead your enemy, or your own people, is entirely legitimate.
You have awesome experience (Hong Kong ...) with negotiations between two states. What is so different about peace negotiations in Ukraine? Why are economic solutions never discussed there? Is the same (past Soviet) mentality the main problem or are this negotiations no serious?