Kiev’s uncompromising stance is leaving no opening for peace talks with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, reiterating Moscow’s long-held position on the issue.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is open to contacts. There was a very productive exchange with an African delegation on Saturday and this dialogue will continue,” the official told journalists on Tuesday.
However, “considering the position held currently by the Ukrainian regime and the background of this position, one cannot say there are any stable grounds for eventual talks,” he added.
A delegation of seven African leaders visited Russia last week after a trip to Ukraine, to present a ten-point roadmap designed to end ongoing hostilities between the two neighbors.
During the Saturday meeting, Putin explained to his guests the history of failed truce talks that Moscow and Kiev held in the first months of the conflict. Among other things, he showed the foreign dignitaries a draft treaty, which the Ukrainian negotiators provisionally accepted in Istanbul last year.
The deal would have ended hostilities and enshrined Ukraine’s status as a neutral state with a limited military force in exchange for international security guarantees. Kiev pulled out of the talks shortly afterwards, in what Moscow claimed to be a US-ordered U-turn.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has since signed a decree that prohibits any talks with Russia for as long as Putin remains in office. His government claimed that its only option was to fully oust Russian troops from all territories that Kiev claims to be its own.
Kiev has penned a so-called “peace plan” which includes Russian withdrawal, reparations, tribunals for alleged war criminals and other conditions it wants met. Zelensky told the African leaders that his plan was the only one he would proceed with. Russia has rejected the proposal, calling it detached from reality.