The Kremlin said Monday that Russia’s goals in Ukraine can only be achieved through military means at the moment and ruled out the idea that peace talks were possible.
“For us, the absolute priority continues and will always remain the achievement of the goals set. At the moment, they can only be achieved by military means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
“So far there are no preconditions for the transition of the process into a peaceful course,” he added. Peskov was responding to remarks from Wolfgang Ischinger, a veteran German diplomat who served as the chair of the Munich Security Conference.
Ischinger suggested it was time for Western countries to think about a peace process and establish a contact group to work toward negotiations. But at this point, the US and other Western countries are leaving the issue of potential peace talks up to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky and his top aides maintain that peace talks can’t happen until Russia is driven out of all the territory it controls, including Crimea, a goal the Pentagon thinks is unrealistic. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said talks with Russia can’t happen until there are war crimes tribunals for Russian soldiers.
Peskov’s comments are the latest sign that there’s little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war, although Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly planning to speak with both Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin soon, suggesting Beijing might try to mediate between the warring sides.
Earlier in the war, Russia was much more open to the idea of peace talks, and negotiations that were held in March and April of 2022 had a real chance. But those efforts were ultimately discouraged by the West.
World War III?…..
Someone ought to inform Kuleba that the US Pentagone has already approved plans to extract their own from the ICC in case they’ve ended up in The Hague.
I presume everyone already knows about Bolton threatening the ICC for daring to consider investigating US war crimes – Or that the US has scant regard for numerous International laws and treaties.
Yeah I remember the “stash” saying that. In my estimation, dropping two nuclear weapons on a defeated nation that had been negotiating an end to hostilities is the top war crime committed by us. The rest are small potatoes. Truman was a monster.
This Xi Jinping’s proposition is a good PR for China. The western media made of this conflict a great issue. Now All Asia, Africa and Latin America are watching Xi with a great respect and hope. Doesn’t matter that those negotiations can’t be successful, the image of Chinese president leading the world to the peace and prosperity, that’s what the world will remember.
It is a logical step. China knows they are next. We have said so over and over.
They are already acting against China. China, Iran, Russia and Belarus are united by American hostility.
The Pentagon says that Ukraine has no real prospect of retaking Crimea.
While the State Department encourages Ukraine to mount a counteroffensive toward Crimea.
It feels a little strange to me that the Pentagon is now more sane than the State Department.
Donna, don’t Bogart that joint.
I always share with my antiwar friends! 😉
Compared to the state department the Pentagon has been mostly leveled headed about Ukraine’s possibilities since the start of the war
Emphasis on compared. Though I imagine that politicians know less about fighting wars than actual officers
The negotiation will consist of one word, “unconditional surrender”. Europe is jumping ship in panic, the flow of supplies has stopped dead, and … in the Zelensky bunker … they’re at the ready with the cyanide pills??
This game of 3 card Monte, where Russia is expected to guess if Biden, Stoltenberg, or Zelensky is the decision maker, has been put to an end. Russia intends to implement a solution on the ground that will leave no ambiguity about what peace is going to look like.
I’m not saying it’s certain that Russia can do that. But it is nearly certain that they have had it with these 3 c̶l̶o̶w̶n̶s̶ negotiators.
“discouraged by the West”? Boris flat out shut it down. Too cowardly to send Blinken, we telephoned Boris to do the deal. Wonder how much $$ was put into his Cayman Island bank account.
I know nothing about politics but the math on this was clear from the moment the US refused to negotiate a mutual security arrangement with Russia before the war started. No security for Russia = no peace = war. Russia failed to understand how much the US didn’t care about Ukraine or Europe. It seems Russia itself had a hard time believing the math all along. I’m afraid that China will soon reach the same conclusion. (Sarcasm alert)
As the Klingons say Qapla!!
Kenneth Harper asks, “What are Moscow’s goals?”
For me the question is, “What are the US goals?”
And I believe John Mearsheimer has the answer.