Responding to a question about the prospects of new talks between the two sides, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Ukrainian authorities must accept new conditions no matter how “painful” they may be.
According to Mr. Peskov, if Russia and Ukraine really return to the negotiating table, these exchanges will not be like the talks held initially when the conflict took place.
Russian soldiers. (Illustration)
“Now it will be a completely different reality. And this new reality must be acknowledged,” he stressed.
According to RT, although Peskov did not elaborate, he may have been referring to territorial changes, specifically Russia's announcement of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk, after a referendum in late 2022.
However, Kiev has repeatedly declared that it will keep all the territories, including wanting to regain control of Crimea.
Talks between Moscow and Kiev in March 2022 culminated in the signing of a preliminary agreement between the two countries in Istanbul. But the deal collapsed amid allegations of violations of its terms.
According to recent revelations by David Arakhamia, the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in the Ukrainian parliament and a key negotiator at these talks, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson simply told the Ukrainians to “keep fighting” and urged them not to sign anything with Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly stated its readiness to resolve the conflict through negotiations and blamed Kiev for a lack of diplomatic efforts on the issue, a stance reiterated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a conversation with US journalist Tucker Carlson last week.
“The president of Ukraine has issued a law prohibiting negotiations with Russia. He signed a decree prohibiting everyone from negotiating with Russia. How are we going to negotiate if he prohibits himself and everyone from doing this? We know that he is putting forward some ideas about this agreement. But in order to agree on something, we need to have a dialogue,” Putin said.
Phuong Anh (Source: RT)
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