Russia ready to negotiate with Ukraine to end war, but on 'Moscow terms', says Peskov

Amid ongoing relentless war between Russia and Ukraine, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is rey to hold negotiations with Kyiv but with "certain terms and conditions". While speaking on national television, Peskov asserted that Russian boss Vlimir Putin is rey to negotiate but ded demands would be only topic on agenda, RT News reported. Answering a question regarding possibility of engaging with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said, "Yes, of course, we can talk about how our demands will be met."

Notably, both countries sat for negotiations in late March in Istanbul but did not reach any breakthrough. Since n, a number of initiatives have been taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but discussions did not yield any positive results. Kremlin n signalled its reiness to strike a peace deal with Kyiv in early August.

According to Peskov, at time two countries were close to settling ir differences but no goals were achieved. During interaction, Russia's Presidential spokesperson also said Moscow would still achieve goals of its "special military operation" even if Ukraine declines to end conflict in a diplomatic way. " opportunity to win this war is much more important than any situational pause," viser to president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy h said last month.

'I don't bite. What are you afraid of?': Zelenskyy

Notably, since war started in mid-February this year, three rounds of peace talks were held between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats. However, meeting did not yield desired results. On several occasions, Zelenskyy appealed to his Russian counterpart to hold negotiations but same has not been echoed by President Vlimir Putin. On March 3, Zelenskyy, during a press conference, called for Putin to meet him, salting proposal with sarcasm. "Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters," he h said, apparently referring to photos of Putin sitting at one end of an extremely long table when he met with or world leers in Kremlin. "I don't bite. What are you afraid of?" Zelenskyy said at a news conference. 

Image: AP