Russia ready for peace talks with Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow is ready for peace talks with Ukraine, which must consider the interests of all countries involved in the more than two-year conflict, including Russia’s.

In an interview with Chinese state news outlet Xinhua before of his visit to China, Putin voiced unhappiness with the West’s lack of support for efforts aimed at paying equal consideration to the requests of all sides.

The Russian president lauded China’s proposal on Ukraine as “practicable and constructive” measures toward peace, highlighting the plan’s potential to provide the groundwork for a political and diplomatic peace process.

Last year, China offered a 12-point declaration outlining ideas for ending the war, which the West rejected.

According to the Kremlin, neither Ukraine nor its Western patrons support these initiatives.

“They are not ready to engage in an equal, honest, and open dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests.
“They are reluctant to discuss the underlying causes, the very origins of the global crisis, which has manifested itself, inter alia, in the dramatic situation around Ukraine. Why? Because today’s global shocks have been provoked precisely by their policies in the previous years and decades,” he said.

Western elites are stubbornly working to “punish” Russia, isolate and weaken it, supplying the Kyiv authorities with money and arms, and imposing unilateral illegitimate sanctions against Russia, Putin said, noting that the number of restrictive measures against Russia exceeded 16,000.

“They are threatening to dismember our country. They are illegally trying to appropriate our foreign assets. They are turning a blind eye to the resurgence of Nazism and to Ukraine-sponsored terrorist attacks in our territory,” he said.

Putin argued that Russia is seeking “a comprehensive, sustainable, and just settlement of this conflict through peaceful means.”

Putin stressed that the main problem is the reliability of guarantees since they are supposed to be provided by “states whose ruling circles seek to substitute the world order based on international law with an order based on certain rules.”

“Russia stands ready for negotiations, But instead of signing the peace agreement, the Ukrainian side suddenly announced the cessation of negotiations. Later on, Ukrainian officials said they had done so, inter alia, because their Western allies had recommended that they continue hostilities and apply joint efforts to achieve Russia’s strategic defeat. We have never refused to negotiate,” he added.

As global dynamics evolve, Russia and China stand united in their commitment to promoting peace, stability, and mutual prosperity through diplomatic engagement, cultural exchange, and multilateral cooperation, including within international organizations and associations such as the economic bloc BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, he said.