The Kremlin described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s declaration that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the three-year conflict with Russia as “positive” on Wednesday.
Amid an unprecedented rift between Ukraine and its main ally, the United States, the Ukrainian leader declared Tuesday that he was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.”
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, “this approach is generally positive,” when asked a question by AFP.
President Donald Trump read aloud a letter claimed to have been received from Zelensky stating that he was prepared for peace negotiations during his speech to the US Congress on Tuesday.
The Kremlin has frequently shown uncertainty about its willingness to negotiate with Zelensky.
Peskov on Wednesday referenced a Zelensky-issued decree that prohibits negotiations with Putin.
Since then, the Ukrainian leader has stated several times that he would be open to meeting with Putin, but only if Kyiv and its Western allies reached a consensus on a shared negotiating stance.
Moscow has also charged Zelensky with being an illegitimate leader, pointing out that his five-year term as president ended in 2019.
Elections are banned in times of war under Ukrainian martial law.
Although Trump has wrongly stated that the Ukrainian leader is hugely unpopular at home and urged on him to hold elections, Zelensky’s major European supporters have backed the suspension of voting in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
After his confrontation with Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump declared that US military assistance to Kyiv will be suspended this week.
In Kyiv and around Europe, there are mounting concerns that Trump is attempting to pressure Ukraine into accepting a peace agreement that is mostly in favour of Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Moscow-based defence ministry reported that Russian forces had taken control of another small settlement in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
An AFP study of statistics from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed that Russia’s advance slowed in February, despite gaining additional ground.
