More than eight months after the start of the invasion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin is still willing to negotiate with Ukraine, but with certain conditions, according to Russian propaganda, as cited by Ukranian Pravda and The Kyiv Independent.

“We are always ready to listen to our Western colleagues if they again ask for a discussion. I hope they will be able to offer us serious approaches that will contribute to the de-escalation of tensions and fully take into account the interests of the Russian Federation and its security,” said the head of Russian diplomacy.

According to Lavrov, Russia is ready to talk with the West if it approaches it “with realistic proposals based on the principles of equality and mutual respect of interests, aimed at finding compromises and a balance between the interests of all the countries of this region.” “.

He assures that over the past six months “there have been several initiatives from the Americans and other Western officials who asked to hold telephone conversations with the Russian leader.”

Lavrov also said that some ministers of foreign affairs addressed him with the same request, and he always agreed.

Russia has always been ready for negotiations, Lavrov claims

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also added that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that the Russian Federation has never refused negotiations.

The press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmytro Peskov, says that negotiations regarding Ukraine should be conducted first of all with Washington, as Kyiv is acting “on orders from the outside”, reports TASS.

“Obviously, Washington has the deciding vote. With Kyiv, for example, you can’t talk about anything,” said a representative of the Kremlin in an interview with the “Moscow” program on “Russia-1”.

Peskov explained that “in Kyiv there is a president, the legitimate president of Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky, and it is possible to reach some agreements with him based on the experience of March, but these agreements are worthless, because they are ordered from outside.” they can be canceled instantly. Accordingly, we should at least talk to their mastermind, leader,” the Kremlin spokesman added.