The Kremlin said Saturday that talks over the war in Ukraine must first be held with the US as Russian officials continue to signal that they’re open to negotiations with Washington.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the US and its Western allies have a say over what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could agree to, citing earlier failed peace talks.
“Kiev has a president, a legitimate Ukrainian president, Mr. Zelensky, and it is theoretically possible to reach any agreements with him, but, bearing in mind the March experience, these agreements mean nothing because they can be immediately canceled at the dictation from outside,” Peskov said.
“The March situation” refers to talks between Ukraine and Russia that were held in Istanbul. Following the in-person meeting, a deal seemed possible, and the two sides reportedly reached a tentative agreement. But former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson then traveled in April and told Zelensky not to negotiate with Russia.
According to a report in Ukrainian media, Johnson said even if Ukraine was ready to sign a deal, the West wasn’t, and his visit was a factor in why a Zelensky-Putin meeting didn’t happen at the time.
Also on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was open to talks with the West and said they could be successful if Moscow’s concerns were respected. Lavrov said Russia is “always ready to listen to our Western colleagues if they make another request to organize a conversation.”
For weeks now, Russian officials have been stressing their openness to negotiations, while the US has rejected the idea of diplomacy, at least publicly. The White House said last week that there are no prospects for negotiations and that it’s up to Zelensky when they will begin, and the Ukrainian leader recently hardened his position on talks.
In response to Russia’s annexation of the territory it controls in Ukraine, Zelensky signed a decree ruling out talks with Russia while Putin is still president, essentially calling for regime change before negotiations can happen.
The lack of a diplomatic effort from the US comes after President Biden warned the risk of nuclear “armageddon” was higher today than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
On Sunday, Lavrov discussed the 1962 crisis and said a major difference between now and then is the fact that there were talks between President John F Kennedy and then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, which resolved the issue.
“Khrushchev and Kennedy found the strength to show responsibility and wisdom, and now from Washington and its satellites, we do not yet see such willingness,” Lavrov said.
Such astounding hypocrisy. Just astounding. Going back to the warrior ethos of Ancient Greece looks pretty good to me. At least the leaders had to put their lives on the line instead of yakking on about blah blah blah.
Biden is a moron. I voted for Biden. I am a moron.
You were not alone. I personally thought Trump was going to start war with Iran toward the end of his Presidency. When it came to Iran, he was like a dog on a bone.
On the war thing, I was more concerned about HRC than Trump. Trump actually did relatively well on the foreign entanglement front.
I agree that she would have been a disaster. Trump was the only option but I wouldn’t go as far as saying he “did relatively well.”
Bitch be crazy. Trump blundered less worse. How’s that?
Wars, you complete me.
Unfortunately for you, it’s true…. I did too… :-{
Me too.
Don’t feel badly. You are honest and have learned from your mistake. There really was no choice for us in the 2020 election.
don’t feel bad – i am a moron and i didn’t vote for either of them
Well,we didn’t expected that he is Moron,we all thought anyone must be better than Trump.
Well,I am moron too that I expected that he would be better than Trump.
Biden isn’t kidding anybody. The whole world knows that negotiating with Zelensky can only work if Blinken has a seat at the table. But Zelensky has to be there too because he can throw a wrench into the works. All of the players already understand this. So, I guess it has become a game to influence public opinion.
Box of rocks Lloyd Austin or beta male Blinken take your pick. There are no intelligent people to talk to in Washington.
This is how the Ukraine War started — the US refused to talk about any of the issues. More of the same.
Inciting this war was a longstanding policy goal of the Blob. To them, this is success, and they mean to keep doing it.
Sure but now that Russia has lost 1/2 its Army the situation has changed now Ukraine will demand more. Maybe Russia can keep Crimea. The relative negotiating power of each side shifts depending on the results on the battlefield.
Why wouldn’t Ukraine demand to keep Crimea if Russia is taking such a beating? Doing some quick math in my head, if it only took 20% of Ukrainian territory to destroy half of Russia’s Army then 40% should mean Russia would be defenseless. And if it only took $67 billion from the US, then we can assume another $67 billion should do the trick. Now let’s get that next aid check in the mail.
Russia has lost 500,000 plus soldiers? How?
Guesses are 70Killed and maybe 200k injured but they all come from one service. So the border guards are still intact, the rocket forces are still intact but the tanks and artillery and infantry not so intact.
Not an answer.
Sure it is, how many front line tanks does Russia have left? how many attack helicopters, how many infantry fighting vehicles, how many artillery tubes, rocket launchers etc Mobniks sure the still have millions to go.
Well that is a big concession, the Russians admit the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government. Making progress.
They will let it live, maybe, if we started to talk. Since we won’t, it may be destroyed.
Again with the genocide?
Genocide? Wasn’t the conversation about the Ukranian government ( They will let it live) ?
Yes, the only way to make peace when the USA is sponsoring a lousy, proxy regime is to convince USA to quit the field. South Vietman’s puppet regime would never agree to peace. Neither would Afghanistan’s. Such regimes, like the neo nazi regime in Kiev, simply CAN’T make peace. Their only purpose is to serve as a cat’s paw for their master, the USA. A puppet “president” who gets too big for his britches, and tries to make peace without his overlord’s permission, will soon find himself an ex president, and might find himself dead, as well. A cat’s paw has no volition, no will power, no decision making authority. The USA is financing the war. It is supplying the weapons, the ammo, the “humanitarian” assistance, the “intel,” the training, the political and diplomatic cover, the “special forces,” the “consultants,” the sanctions, etc, etc. It will decide when and if enough is enough, not the little comedian.
Look at Putin’s recent speech at the Valdai International Discussion Club. As Takimag notes, it’s like the West’s Davos but for serious people, not celebrities and media-elected politicians. Putin’s speech is like from an Ivy League history professor at a graduate seminar. He references Carl Popper’s book from 75 years ago and expects the audience to understand the reference. It is political, philosophical and historical. In the discussion afterward it is clear he has firm a grasp of his speech, it wasn’t written for him.
Meanwhile in Ukraine you have an actor who declares “we will fight until total victory!” which is the movie version of war, aimed at a Western movie-swallowing audience. Almost no wars in history end without negotiations and conditions from both sides. Zelensky is encouraged to talk like this by Biden, who wants tough talk so the war fever will carry his party through the midterms. And so thousands of Ukrainian conscripts are forced to rush toward artillery and die for the careers of corrupt politicians.
Yes