MOSCOW, Dec 2 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin is open to talks on a possible settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and believes in a diplomatic solution, the Kremlin said on Friday after Joe Biden hinted he was ready to talk to the Russian leader.
Biden, speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, said the only way to end the war in Ukraine was for Putin to withdraw his troops and if Putin sought to end the conflict, then Biden would be ready for him. talk.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov struck a dovish tone when asked about Biden’s remarks, saying Putin remained open to negotiations but Russia would not pull out of Ukraine.
“The President of the Russian Federation has always been, is and remains open to negotiations in order to secure our interests,” Peskov told reporters.
Putin says he doesn’t regret launching what he calls Russia’s ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine, portraying it as a watershed moment when Russia finally stood up to arrogant hegemony West after decades of humiliation in the years following the fall of the USSR in 1991. Union.
Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they present as an imperial-style war of occupation. Ukraine says it will fight until the last Russian soldier is expelled from its territory.
TALKS?
Speaking at the White House, Biden said he and Macron had agreed they would work together to hold Putin accountable for what he called a “barbaric” war – and that the idea that Putin had ever defeated the Ukraine was beyond comprehension.
Biden, who said in March that Putin could not stay in power, said the Kremlin leader miscalculated in invading Ukraine, but if he really wanted to get out of Ukraine he would be ready to sit down with Putin after consultation with NATO allies.
Russia has claimed around a fifth of Ukraine’s post-Soviet territory, annexations that the West and Ukraine say they will never accept.
Peskov said the US refusal to recognize “the new territories” as Russian hampered the search for any potential compromise.
“It makes finding common ground for talks significantly more difficult,” Peskov said.
Asked if Biden’s way of framing potential contacts meant negotiations were impossible from a Russian perspective, Peskov replied, “In essence, that’s what Biden said. He said negotiations are only possible after Putin leaves Ukraine.”
The Kremlin, said Peskov, could not accept this – and the Russian military operation would continue in Ukraine.
“But at the same time – it is very important to give this jointly – President Putin was, is and remains open to contacts, to negotiations. Of course, the most preferable way to achieve our interests is through peaceful and diplomatic means . “
The conflict left tens of thousands of soldiers dead on both sides and sparked the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Reuters reporting; Editing by Nick Macfie, William Maclean
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