Russia is ready to talk to Europeans, Kremlin says
Russia is open to dialogue with Europeans over the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Thursday.
“The Russians are ready to start negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We believe it is always better to talk to each other rather than drive the situation towards full confrontation – which is precisely what the Europeans are doing now,” he said.
Russia would appreciate a change in tone, Peskov added.
He pointed to recent statements by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Berlin on direct negotiations with Russia, and said it was “probably not a bad thing” if a negotiator was sought at the European level.
“Only a few months ago, such discussions did not even take place in Europe,” Peskov noted.
Putin has always stressed that he is ready to enter into negotiations if contacted. At the same time, Moscow has repeatedly issued statements – including from the Foreign Ministry – claiming that the Europeans should be considered parties to the war given their arms deliveries to Ukraine and therefore would have no place at the negotiating table.
Find a suitable mediator
Negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine were recently conducted under US mediation. However, no decisive progress in the negotiations between kyiv and Moscow has so far been achieved.
The main reason is that Russia continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the Donbass region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected such territorial concessions to Putin.
