The Kremlin has dismissed requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for immediate peace negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov outlined the Kremlin’s current priorities, which include an upcoming trip to China and preparations for an economic forum in Vladivostok.
Putin is scheduled to visit China from August 31 to September 3, 2023, before heading to Russia’s far east for the economic forum. While Peskov acknowledged ongoing communications between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators stemming from previous discussions in Istanbul, he did not provide a timeline for the continuation of talks.
Peskov refrained from addressing the potential for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, a possibility suggested by former US President Donald Trump and welcomed by other allies. He also declined to comment on various proposals regarding resolutions to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Discussions in Europe about future security guarantees for Ukraine were described by Peskov as critical. He reiterated Russia’s firm stance against the deployment of troops from NATO member countries in Ukraine, indicating that such a presence would contradict Russia’s long-standing objectives.
“In fact, at the very beginning, it was the advancement of NATO military infrastructure into Ukraine that could probably be named among the root causes of the conflict situation that arose,” Peskov stated. He expressed a negative view towards further discussions about NATO military involvement, emphasizing that the details of any potential resolution should not be publicly debated.
“The work should not be conducted publicly—only in this way can a result be achieved,” he added. Peskov recognized Trump’s mediation efforts as significant, stating, “We believe that these efforts are very important and can indeed help to resolve this complex longstanding conflict, which was not provoked by us.”
Ukraine and its allies characterize the conflict as a clear act of aggression initiated solely by Russia, which has inflicted extensive devastation over the past three and a half years.
In a separate development, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, announced that he was in Riyadh with security council chief Rustem Umerov to explore peace pathways and Saudi Arabia’s role in the process. Yermak reported on social media that he and Umerov met with the Saudi defense minister and national security adviser to discuss potential contributions to peace efforts.
Zelenskiy previously indicated that Turkey, Gulf states, or other European countries could potentially host future discussions with Putin, underscoring the ongoing search for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
