Kremlin responds to report Putin offered to freeze Ukraine conflict

RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2024 10:08 UTC

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Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov

The Russian leader has not made any such proposal to the US, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said...

A media report suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin reached out to the US with an offer to freeze the Ukraine conflict is false, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.

On Tuesday, Reuters news agency claimed that Putin had contacted Washington through intermediaries to propose "a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war." However, according to "three Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions," who the agency claims to have spoken with, the US rejected the idea.

When asked by journalists on Wednesday about the report, Peskov responded: "No, this is not true."

In his interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson last week, Putin said Russia maintains contacts with the US "through various agencies."

According to the Russian leader, Moscow has told Washington many times:

"if you really want to stop [the] fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine. If that happens, the conflict "will be over within a few weeks. That's it. And then we can agree on some terms before you do that, stop."

Putin reiterated that Russia remains ready for talks with Ukraine, but in order for them to take place, President Vladimir Zelensky should at least cancel his decree that forbids him from negotiating with Moscow.

During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Zelensky warned his foreign backers against trying to pause the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. "Any frozen conflict will eventually reignite," he insisted, adding that the West should instead supply more weapons to Kiev so that it can achieve a "just and stable" peace through military means.

Earlier this week, Carlson said he had reached the conclusion that Putin "wants to get out" of the conflict, but that the longer the fighting continues, the less likely the Russian leader will be to compromise.

On Sunday, Peskov said that if talks between Moscow and Kiev do materialize, the Ukrainian side would have to recognize "the new reality, no matter how painful it may be" for them, apparently referring to the failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive last year and recent gains made by Russian forces along the frontline.

Comment: Lavrov says 'Nyet'!

The West will not offer a realistic diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict because the US and its allies are still intent on inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Briefing Russian MPs on his ministry's work and the current international situation, Lavrov stated that Moscow is "at the advance guard in the fight for a better future," adding that the Western-dominated system is giving way to a multipolar world.

The US and its allies, however, remain committed to waging a hybrid war against anyone that prioritizes national interests, as evidenced by the continued Ukraine conflict, Lavrov claimed.

There has been a shift in Western rhetoric due to Moscow's battlefield successes, according to the minister, with officials now focusing on preventing a Russian victory rather than ensuring its defeat. Nonetheless, their core policy of trying to damage Russia remains the same, Lavrov said, meaning the conflict is unlikely to be resolved diplomatically.

"Considering that those who declared a war on us offer no serious proposals and are unwilling to respect our interests and the reality on the ground, getting an agreement at the negotiating table will certainly be impossible. No such scenario is foreseen."

Lavrov insisted that the West had initiated the conflict through its continued quest for "global domination and exceptionalism." Russia, meanwhile, is working with its allies to dismantle the current system, which it perceives as colonialist in nature, he told the lawmakers.

US President Joe Biden reiterated his Ukraine policy on Tuesday, urging the House of Representatives to adopt a Senate-approved foreign aid package including roughly $60 billion for Kiev. The money will mostly fund arms production in the US and will help Ukraine oppose the "vicious onslaught" by Russia, Biden claimed. He said:

"The United States pulled together a coalition of nearly 50 nations to support Ukraine. We unified NATO; we expanded it. We can't walk away now."

If approved, the bill would raise the amount of military assistance provided to Ukraine by the US since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022 to some $170 billion.