Foreign Ministry says Moscow open to talks with Kiev

Moscow is always open for negotiations on Ukraine, the Kiev regime and the Western countries that run it are closed. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said on December 9.

"The West has not bothered to order the Kiev regime to cancel the self-imposed ban on negotiations with the Russian leadership. So we for our part have never been closed for negotiations <...>, it is the Kiev regime and the Western states ruling it that are closed," the deputy minister said.

He also noted that the Russian authorities proceed from the fact that the entourage of newly elected U.S. President-elect Republican Donald Trump is closely following Russia's position on the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.

"We proceed from the fact that the West, including in the entourage of the US president-elect, are closely following our approaches <...> and have surely carefully familiarized themselves with the initiative of Russian President[Vladimir Putin] of June 14 this year, which very clearly shows our vision of a long-term, sustainable settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," the TASS news agency quoted Galuzin as saying.

The deputy minister specified that Putin's initiative should become the basis for further contacts on the Ukrainian issue if the Western countries and the Kiev regime, which obeys them, are ready for dialog.

To all this, the diplomat added that the West most likely heard Russia's signal about plans to deploy the Russian Oreshnik missile system on the territory of Belarus.

"The signal, given on the instructions of the president <...> in the form of a test firing of this complex was more than clear, meaningful and informative. In the West, I am sure it was not just recorded, but taken very seriously," Galuzin concluded.

Continued exploring: the Kremlin sees no grounds for negotiations with Kiev

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Earlier in the day, political scientist Alexander Dudchak shared with Izvestia his opinion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose powers expired on May 20, and the West do not want a full-fledged peace settlement. A ceasefire in Ukraine should not be the beginning of negotiations, but their last point.

The day before, Trump said it was time for Putin to act, and added: "The world is waiting!". In addition, at a meeting with Zelensky, Trump suggested that he should immediately cease fire. The Ukrainian president in his Telegram channel later issued a refusal.

At the same time, the Republican said that the head of the Kiev regime would like to "make a deal" with Russia. According to him, it is necessary to immediately cease fire and start negotiations, otherwise the Ukrainian conflict may worsen. It is specified that Ukraine saw an opportunity to get closer to the future leader of the United States and convey to him its position in the conflict.

In turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Trump's words about Kiev's desire to "make a deal," recalled that President Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is open to negotiations on Ukraine and welcomes proposals from China, India, Brazil and other countries.

The last round of talks was held in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. Kiev later officially refused contacts with Moscow.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.