Peskov on Trump's idea of peacekeepers in Ukraine urged not to get ahead of himself

At a briefing on Friday, December 13, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov urged "not to get ahead of ourselves" in the issue of deploying European troops on Ukrainian territory.

This is how he commented on the proposal cited by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) newspaper quoted by US President-elect Donald Trump to deploy European Union (EU) troops on Ukrainian territory in order to control the ceasefire.

"All this can be discussed in the course of negotiations, should be discussed," Peskov said.

He noted that it is not necessary to get ahead "and before the ceasefire as such." At the same time, Peskov emphasized that Russia does not want a ceasefire, but peace, which will come after the Ukrainian side fulfills the conditions and the Russian Federation achieves its goals.

He specified that Moscow remained open to negotiations on the settlement of the conflict, as Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly said. According to the Kremlin spokesman, the negotiations are possible and should be based on the Istanbul Accords of 2022.

Peskov added that at the moment there are still no prerequisites for negotiations, as Ukraine excludes them.

On a settled basis: Moscow and Budapest to continue consultations on Ukraine

But during their last conversation, Putin and Orban did not discuss holding peace talks in Hungary

The day before, Reuters reported, citing sources, that the EU was considering the possibility of creating a coalition of five to eight states to send troops to Ukrainian territory. The Polish authorities officially ruled out sending troops to the Ukrainian territory.

Earlier, on November 29, Peskov stressed that the deployment of peacekeepers was possible only if agreed with the parties to the conflict. He added that in order to get on the trajectory of settlement, it is necessary to solve the root causes of what is happening, and this is deeper than the mission of peacekeepers.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the worsening situation in the region.