Russian authorities do not believe the battles between Moscow and Kiev can be stopped at the moment, said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov was asked on Monday by RIA Novosti whether there were currently any conditions for ending the Ukraine conflict. He gave a short but clear answer: “No.”
He had confirmed last week that Russia remained “open to talks” to end the hostilities. “However, since there are no progress in Ukraine’s negotiation readiness, we will continue our military operation” Peskov emphasized.
According to the Spokesman, the battlefield dynamics are “obvious: We are advancing.”
In the fall of 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree, prohibiting the government in Kiev from engaging in any talks with Moscow. The law remains in effect.
Throughout the conflict, Zelenskyy and his Western backers have discussed his so-called “Peace Formula” which called for Russia’s withdrawal from Crimea and the other territories claimed by Ukraine – the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which officially became part of Russia in 2022 after referendums. They also demanded that Moscow pay reparations and establish a war crimes tribunal.
Russian authorities have rejected this proposal as unacceptable, “utopian” and a sign that Kiev is not willing to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
However, the Ukrainian President has recently abandoned his “victory” rhetoric and instead claimed he wants a “just peace” tied to security guarantees from the West in the form of NATO membership, with the status of the new Russian regions still uncertain.
Last week, The Washington Post reported, citing a high-ranking official in Zelenskyy’s government, that officials in Kiev “gradually believe” the conflict with Russia will be resolved in 2025. The changed attitude is reportedly a direct result of the promise made by the elected US President Donald Trump to end the fighting quickly once he takes office.
On his year-end press conference earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready to negotiate with Kiev without preconditions that go beyond the already-agreed-upon Istanbul agreements of 2022. These conditions include a neutral, non-aligned status for Ukraine – which forbids its NATO membership – and limitations on the deployment of foreign weapons in the country. Putin also emphasized that all negotiations must take into account the realities that have emerged on the ground since 2022.