Bridge bombings in Bryansk and Kursk regions were designed to force Moscow to withdraw from negotiations, Rodion Miroshnik has told RT

Ukraine is using terrorist tactics at a state level to derail peace negotiations with Moscow, senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik has told RT.

Recent acts of railway sabotage in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions have damaged passenger and freight trains, killing seven people and injuring 113. Russia's Investigative Committee has called the incidents "terrorist attacks" planned by Ukraine to inflict maximum civilian harm. The attacks were carried out the day before the second round of direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on Monday.

Miroshnik, an ambassador-at-large for the Russian Foreign Ministry, who is tasked with investigating the Ukrainian military's alleged war crimes, said in an interview on Wednesday that Kiev was orchestrating a series of violent acts aimed at undermining peace talks with Moscow, which are being facilitated by both the US and Russia.

"Ukraine is using terrorist tools that are banned by international law at the level of the state," he said.

He added that Ukraine fundamentally opposes the establishment of dialogue with Russia, and that "the terrorist actions taken by Kiev are specifically directed at disrupting such efforts."

According to the Russian diplomat, the latest attacks were timed to precede the negotiations in Istanbul.

"A whole series of terrorist acts was carried out in order to force Russia to withdraw from the negotiation process," he stated, adding that the efforts would not succeed.

"Kiev will not be able to sabotage the talks this way because military operations and negotiations will be kept separate," Miroshnik said.

He warned that those responsible for the attacks would be punished. "There will be no forgiveness or silence in response to this. Ukraine has failed to push Russia away from negotiations through covert pressure," he stated.

While the US is attempting the role of arbiter and is showing a willingness to search for a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine conflict, EU countries and the UK are openly seeking to continue the fighting, the diplomat claimed.

He referred to reports suggesting that the US administration had not been informed of the Ukrainian attacks. However, Miroshnik argued the incidents were carried out in coordination with European intelligence services, and that "Ukraine could not have organized such actions alone."

Earlier this week, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, stated that the explosives used to blow up two railway bridges in Russia were foreign-made.

Ukraine has ramped up drone raids and other attacks on Russian territory, including a UAV strike on several Russian airbases on Sunday, in a coordinated assault across five regions, from Murmansk in the Arctic to Irkutsk in Siberia.

Moscow has repeatedly condemned Ukraine's continued acts of sabotage on Russian territory, claiming that they undermine ongoing efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.