“So far, at this moment, there are no preconditions for negotiations, because everyone knows Ukraine’s refusal position. That’s why the special military operation continues,” the Kremlin spokesman said, according to the Russian news agency TASS. The term “special military operation” refers to Russia’s aggression against the neighboring country, which began in February 2022.
Peskov was alluding to the decree of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from last year, which prohibits any negotiations with Russia. But the document leaves open the possibility of negotiations with a different head of the Russian state than Putin.
Peskov stressed that Putin’s position is “well known”. “The last time he talked about it was during a conversation with (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko in April,” the spokesman recalled, adding that Moscow’s position is “consistent.”
The spokesman made his remarks in response to a question about whether the draft agreement drawn up by negotiators of both sides in Istanbul two years ago could be the basis of a future peace treaty. Peskov added that the document was “actually initialed” at the time, but that Kiev refused to complete the contract due to “direct pressure from London”.
“Everyone is well aware that the document was indeed initialed, and everyone also knows well from the words of one participant of these negotiations from the Ukrainian side what was the exact reason for the refusal of the Ukrainians to continue with them,” Peskov continued. “It was direct pressure from London,” he added.
In the upcoming agreement from Istanbul, which was quoted by the German newspaper Die Welt on Saturday, Russia demanded, among other things, that Ukraine commit to neutrality, renounce joining NATO, limit the size of its armed forces and recognize Russian as a second official language.
Kyiv broke off talks with Russia at the time when, after the retreat of Russian troops from Kyiv in the spring of 2022, mass murders committed by Russian soldiers in the vicinity of the Ukrainian capital came to light.
Ukraine and Russia were on the verge of a peace agreement two years ago
Foreign
