Kremlin Sees No Basis Yet for Ukraine Peace Talks

The Kremlin said it remains open to negotiations to end the war in Ukraine but sees no prerequisites for starting formal peace talks, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should wait until experts complete preparatory work. Peskov reiterated that Moscow’s position on a direct meeting had not changed: Zelenskyy could travel to Moscow to meet Putin, and Russia would provide security guarantees, he said. Ukraine has rejected Moscow as a venue and proposed that any meeting between the leaders take place in a neutral country, according to the reports. Peskov said a summit before expert-level groundwork was completed would be premature and a waste of time. His remarks did not indicate that Russia was ready to move from its stated openness to negotiations to a formal process. One report also said the Kremlin had no concrete plans for further high-level meetings involving the United States or Ukraine to discuss a peace agreement.