Russia said it saw no indications the West was prepared for negotiations on the Ukraine war and dismissed a reported phone conversation between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
According to the Washington Post on Sunday, Trump told Putin not to escalate the dispute during their phone conversation on Thursday.
The nearly three-year battle could be turned upside down by Trump’s election to the White House, which has also called into doubt Washington’s multibillion-dollar defense assistance for Kyiv.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, called the report “false” and disputed it.
“We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung wrote in a statement to AFP.
Additionally, a top Ukrainian presidential official stated that Kyiv was “not informed” of any phone conversations between Trump and Putin.
On the campaign trail, the Republican claimed he could put an end to the conflict in a matter of hours and said he would speak with Putin immediately. Trump has not specified the parameters he is offering or how he plans to reach a peace agreement for Ukraine.
According to Scholz’s spokesperson, he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe” during their phone conversation on Sunday.
However, Peskov stated that “no plans” exist for Putin to meet with Scholz and that it is too soon to determine if Europe’s stance on Ukraine has changed.
The Kremlin official stated, “We see a certain nervousness, various fears among Europeans over the election of Mr. Trump as US president.” Peskov stated that although Putin “repeated that he is open to all talks” last week, “no preparation is being carried out now.” No signals have been received by us.
“We must wait if they say that some signals will appear.” According to Peskov, Moscow is “continuing our special operation until we achieve all our aims,” while “European leaders are continuing… to try to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia.”
“Enter into negotiations.”
Ukraine has long pushed for permission to fire long-range weapons deep into Russia from the US and Europe.
Russian forces are rapidly advancing in the eastern Donetsk region, and Peskov emphasized that “no kinds of weapons can change” the dynamic on the battlefield.
“The West is faced with a choice when the situation in the theater of combat is not in Kyiv’s favor,” stated Sergei Shoigu, the former defense minister and current secretary of Russia’s security council, last week.
“To either acknowledge the current situation and begin negotiations, or to continue funding (Kyiv) and the annihilation of the Ukrainian people.” A day after both sides launched record drone attacks, Russian strikes killed at least six people, prompting air alarms throughout Ukraine early Monday.
“The signals are positive” following Trump’s win, the Kremlin spokesperson told state media on Sunday, stating that “at least he’s talking about peace, and not about confrontation.”
The Post reported that during the phone conversation, Trump warned Putin of Washington’s substantial military presence in Europe.
According to a number of sources who spoke to the US newspaper, Trump had mentioned briefly the issue of land and stated his want for additional discussions on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon.”
As a prerequisite of peace negotiations, the Russian president has called for Ukraine to leave large areas of its southern and eastern borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a warning after Trump’s election that there should be “no concessions” to Putin. Many in the West and Ukraine worry that any deal that benefits Putin will give the Kremlin leader more confidence and encourage further aggression.
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