Kiev’s current terms are a complete non-starter, a senior Russian diplomat said
Ukraine must assume a more rational position for the peace negotiations to resume, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said.
A journalist with the news channel RBK asked Rudenko to comment on the recent report that presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China expect the negotiations to begin by the end of 2024.
The diplomat advised against “setting deadlines or outlining specific timetables” on the matter. He stressed, however, that “the proposals put forward by the Ukrainian authorities, which are controlled from abroad, cannot serve as a basis for any serious negotiations.”
The talks can only resume once Kiev “takes a more realistic position,” Rudenko stated.
On Wednesday, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban briefed EU officials that Putin and Xi anticipate peace negotiations before the year is out. Neither Moscow nor Beijing have confirmed this claim.
A vocal critic of the EU’s stance on the conflict in Ukraine, Orban has recently wrapped up his trip to Kiev, Moscow and Beijing, which he described as a “peace mission.”
After Orban’s visit to Moscow last week, Putin reaffirmed his June peace terms, stating that he wanted a comprehensive and final end to the conflict rather than a temporary ceasefire. Moscow’s terms include Ukraine becoming a neutral country and the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye. Russia insists that Ukraine must renounce claims on these four territories, as well as Crimea
Ukraine has rejected Russia’s terms, insisting that its territory must be restored to the 1991 borders.
The peace talks between Russia and Ukraine broke down in the spring of 2022, with both sides accusing each other of making unacceptable demands. Putin has said that the Ukrainian delegation has initially agreed to some of Russia’s terms, including neutrality, but then abruptly suspended the negotiations.
