Ukraine must assume a more rational position for peace negotiations to resume, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said.
Rudenko was asked by a journalist with the RBK news channel to comment on a recent report that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, expect peace talks to begin by the end of 2024.
The diplomat advised against “setting deadlines or outlining specific timetables.” He stressed, however, that “the proposals put forward by the Ukrainian authorities, which are controlled from abroad, cannot serve as a basis for any serious negotiations.”
Talks can only resume once Kiev “takes a more realistic position,” Rudenko stated.
On Wednesday, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had briefed EU officials that Putin and Xi anticipate peace negotiations before the year is out. Neither Moscow nor Beijing has confirmed this claim.
A vocal critic of the EU’s stance on the Ukraine conflict, Orban recently conducted trips to Kiev, Moscow, and Beijing, described it as a “peace mission.”
After Orban’s visit to Moscow last week, Putin reaffirmed his June peace terms, stating that he wanted a comprehensive and final end to the conflict rather than a temporary ceasefire. Moscow’s terms include Ukraine becoming a neutral country and the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye. Russia insists that Ukraine must renounce claims to these four territories, as well as Crimea.
Ukraine has rejected Russia’s terms, insisting that its territory must be restored to the 1991 borders.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine broke down in the spring of 2022, with both sides accusing each other of making unacceptable demands. Putin has said that the Ukrainian delegation initially agreed to some of Russia’s terms, including neutrality, but then abruptly suspended the negotiations.