Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said on Thursday that he cannot imagine public negotiations with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of changing the goals of possible peace talks, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

He also accused that the suffering of civilians is a consequence of Ukraine’s refusal to negotiate.

“This is a consequence of the reluctance of the Ukrainian side to solve the problem, to start negotiations, its refusal to look for points of common ground,” he answered a question about power outages that affect millions of Ukrainians.

In a conversation with the press, Peskov said that if the United States wishes, it can take into account Russia’s concerns and encourage Ukraine to return to the negotiating table.

The representative of the Russian president stated that in the nine months since the beginning of the conflict, the Ukrainians have changed their position several times regarding the negotiations with Moscow, therefore they are not reliable.

The Kremlin also announced the completion of the removal of barriers to Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports, hours after Russia agreed to extend for 120 days an agreement on the transportation of grain through the Black Sea.

Ukraine again demands the withdrawal of Russian troops to discuss peace

Dmytro Peskov’s comments on Thursday came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a day earlier that Western countries had given “signals” that Vladimir Putin was seeking direct talks with Ukraine.

“We received signals that Putin wants direct negotiations,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv. Instead of the typical closed-door talks, Zelensky said he was proposing public talks with the Kremlin because “Russia is waging a public war.”

Ukraine and Russia held peace talks in the early stages of the war, which Putin launched on February 24, but nothing came of it. Ukraine declared the impossibility of negotiations with Russia until the complete withdrawal of troops from its territory.

On Tuesday, Zelensky presented G20 leaders gathered in Indonesia with a 10-point plan to end the war, including the withdrawal of Russian troops and an end to hostilities.

Earlier, in early October, the President of Ukraine issued a decree declaring negotiations with Vladimir Putin “impossible.”

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