No prospect for peace talks with Ukraine can be seen as long as dialogue with Russia stays banned by Ukrainian law or unless the West allows Kiev to be flexible on the issue, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
Commenting on a statement by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who said Russia was willing to hold talks with Ukraine, Peskov said, “In a situation when Ukraine’s president is banned from contacting us or somehow engaging with us by Ukrainian law and when the West is obviously reluctant to allow Kiev any flexibility here, there is no discussing any prospect [for dialogue] at this point.”
“Russia has always been ready to settle issues through negotiations,” the Kremlin spokesman emphasized. “And [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has repeatedly said that we are still ready for this.” “Of course, we would prefer to attain our goals through peaceful and diplomatic ways,” he added.
Peskov admitted that no talks were currently possible as long as there was a legislative ban on negotiations with Russia in Ukraine.
Ankara supports Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s previously proposed plan on a peaceful settlement, Turkey’s top diplomat Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported on December 22, citing anonymous American and European sources, that Kiev was working on the final details of their peaceful conflict settlement proposal, which could be made public this February.
Earlier, Zelensky told a joint meeting of the US Congress, following his talks with American President Joe Biden, that the two had discussed Kiev’s proposals to settle the Ukrainian conflict. According to Zelensky, Biden supported Ukraine’s initiative to hold a global peace summit to discuss these proposals.
Russian officials have repeatedly warned that any “peace plan” on Ukraine should take the new realities into account, namely the accession of four new regions to Russia.
Source: Agencies
