Kremlin reveals key condition for Ukraine peace talks

Kiev must first give up its NATO ambitions and withdraw from all Russian territory, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

No negotiations with Ukraine can take place unless Kiev gives up its attempts to join NATO and its troops withdraw from Russian territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary was commenting on speculation by the British outlet Financial Times about ‘secret’ peace between Russia and Ukraine talks, branding the story fake news.

Citing anonymous sources, the FT has claimed that Moscow and Kiev are “in preliminary discussions” to resume peace talks. According to the outlet, Ukraine is interested in restarting Qatar-mediated negotiations “that came close to an agreement in August before being derailed by Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk.”

“The basic conditions [for talks] were in the president’s peace initiative,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, referring to terms Putin outlined earlier this year, including the removal of all Ukrainian troops from Russian territory, Peskov said, referring to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the full administrative boundaries of Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions.

The outlet also claimed that the Ukrainian and Russian intelligence services have reached a mutual understanding to stop targeting each other’s energy infrastructure, calling it “the most significant de-escalation” of the conflict to date.

Peskov responded by saying that “nowadays there are a lot of bogus stories that have nothing to do with reality,” adding that “even the most respectable publications do not shy away from planting this misleading information.”

Russia received a Turkish request to discuss energy infrastructure strikes last month, according to former Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who now serves as the secretary of the Security Council. According to Shoigu, Russia was willing to consider a potential deal, but the Ukrainian side rejected it.