The only option is to end the military operation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia stands “in solidarity” with the West, believing that the conflict in Ukraine cannot be frozen, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russian news agency TASS on Wednesday.
When asked if Russia was considering suspending the fighting, Peskov said that Moscow was only considering the option “to complete the special military operation”, which means securing Russia’s interests and achieving its goals. objectives either by the military or by other available means.
The spokesman said it was premature to talk about a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, as there are no preconditions for such an outcome yet.
“It is unlikely that we can talk about real negotiations with any of the representatives of the current authorities in Kyiv, because there (in Ukraine) any negotiations with the Russian Federation are simply prohibited now,” Peskov explained.
Earlier, the German Chancellor said that any peace talks on the situation in Ukraine cannot aim to freeze the conflict. “Russia must withdraw its troops,” insisted Sunday Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
Meanwhile, the United States would seek to prolong the conflict for years, if not decades. According to the Politico news site, Joe Biden’s administration considered freezing the fighting instead of pushing for a victory for Ukraine, in an effort to achieve a situation similar to that between North Korea and South Korea.
“A Korean-style shutdown is definitely something that has been discussed by experts and analysts inside and outside of government,” a source told the outlet. “It’s plausible, because neither side would need to recognize new borders, and the only thing that would have to be agreed would be to stop firing along a fixed line.”
The advantage of such a scenario for the United States would be that it would cost Western countries less to support Ukraine, attract less public attention and reduce the pressure to help Kyiv. Moreover, it would allow Ukraine to continue adapting its army to NATO standards, in the hope of joining the military alliance.
Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly criticized NATO’s expansion in Europe and its attempts to establish a presence in Ukraine without the country’s formal membership. Moscow cited such moves as one of the main reasons for launching its military offensive in February 2022.
RT