The well-informed Yury Ushakov, aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was asked at yesterday’s press conference whether the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban or of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico had offered to host a meeting between Trump and Putin. He answered: “We have received several proposals from different countries. I will not name specific countries, in order not to impact any potential developments. But such proposals have been made and are being made.”
The day before, Dec 22, the Kremlin had said that there was, as yet, no specific plans for a Trump-Putin meeting. Then yesterday, Putin hosted Fico at a meeting.
Today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, as reported by RT, that Russia has always been willing to achieve its goals in the Ukraine conflict diplomatically and has only resorted to military means because Kiev rejects talks. Peskov had been asked about Orban’s interview published this morning by Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, in which Orban expressed certainty that peace in the Ukraine conflict would be achieved in 2025, either through negotiations or after “one of the parties” is destroyed.
Peskov went on to say that Putin “has repeatedly stated that we are open to dealing with our issues through negotiations…. Since so far there has been no movement in terms of Ukraine’s readiness to negotiate, we are continuing our military operation.” The situation on the battlefield, where Russian troops have an advantage over their opponents, “speaks for itself.”
