Russia is ready to negotiate an end to the conflict with Ukraine at any time.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Photo: Reuters).

"President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that achieving our goals (in the conflict with Ukraine) is our top priority. We want to do that through political and diplomatic means. We are ready to negotiate," Peskov said on December 5th, speaking about the prospects for peace talks with Kyiv.

Russia has repeatedly stated its readiness to negotiate an end to the conflict with Ukraine based on the actual situation, but believes Kyiv lacks goodwill.

A Kremlin spokesman blamed Ukraine for derailing peace talks with Russia last spring when the conflict first broke out. "It was Ukrainian officials who admitted they did it at the request of Britain," he said.

Late last month, in a media interview, David Arakhamia, head of Ukraine's Servant of the People Party and chief negotiator for Ukraine's talks with Russia, acknowledged that Russia was ready to cease hostilities on the condition that Ukraine remained neutral, but Kyiv did not trust this, while the West advised them to continue the conflict.

When talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul (Turkey) in March 2022, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went to Kyiv and urged Ukraine to continue fighting and not sign any agreement with Moscow.

In May 2022, Ukrainian media also revealed that Johnson had disrupted the Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul. However, neither Johnson himself nor the Western governments have ever admitted to pressuring Ukraine to abandon the draft agreement with Russia.

Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. From the early days of the conflict, both sides held negotiations aimed at ending the fighting. They are believed to have come close to reaching a peace agreement at talks held in Türkiye last March.

Vladimir Medinsky, head of Russia's peace negotiating team, revealed that Ukraine could have ended the conflict in April 2022 by recognizing the independence of Donbass (eastern Ukraine) and the annexation of Crimea by Russia.

"Among our non-negotiable demands is the recognition of Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and the recognition of the independence of the Donbass republics," Medinsky said on November 28. The official added that Russia has a long list of humanitarian demands related to the protection of Russian-speaking people in the Donbass region.

"However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chose to fight on the advice of the West," Medinsky emphasized.

On the Ukrainian side, officials have repeatedly stated that Ukraine will never cede territory in exchange for peace, and that Kyiv will only accept neutrality when it receives security guarantees from Russia and the West.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/nga-san-sang-dam-phan-cham-dut-xung-dot-voi-ukraine-bat-cu-luc-nao-20231205205811861.htm