In official Moscow, no move from Kiev towards negotiations has yet been seen, despite all of the talk and atmospherics on the matter. “There is indeed a lot of talk about negotiations but they are in a different context. There are no constructive talks, they ended this April when in response to Ukraine’s proposal we yet again sent our suggestions and following this, everything was blocked,” Maria Zakharova said yesterday during an online meeting with Kazan Federal University students and teaching staff, reported TASS.
According to Zakharova, the West, which supplies weapons to Ukraine, directly influences Kiev’s readiness for negotiations. “Now there are no questions as to who is behind them – those who supply them with arms and provide them with huge sums of money, at times forbidding to even think about negotiations, and at times peddling a story that everything should be decided on the battlefield, yet later on [the West] once again returns to the issue of talks but in the context of accusing our country that we are not conducting them,” she said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko confirmed Zakharova’s point. Russia has always demonstrated a willingness to hold peace talks, said Rudenko. “Ukraine passed a law that prohibits conducting peace talks with Russia. It’s their choice. (But) we have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” he said, adding that the talks were interrupted by Ukraine. Asked if Russia is in talks with the U.S. about Ukraine, Rudenko said: “No, we are not holding (such talks).”
The atmospherics in much of the media is suggesting that there is motion towards talks. On Nov. 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly laid out five conditions for entering into talks with Moscow. According to Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the regime’s Interior Ministry (and involved in Myrotvorets kill list website), these conditions are: 1. Restoring territorial integrity; 2. Respecting UN Statutes; 3. Paying off all damages caused by war; 4. Punishing each war criminal; and 5. Guarantees this won’t happen again. Noticeably absent was any demand that Putin must be removed as President of Russia first.
