Arya News - Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing everything possible to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end, but Kiev is doing everything to avoid peace talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with ABC News.
"President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means," Peskov said. At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman pointed out that "Ukraine is trying to escape from negotiations." Peskov said that Moscow hopes that the administration of US President Donald Trump and Washington’s mediation helps Kiev acquire "a little bit more flexibility, a little bit more political will and wisdom." The Kremlin spokesman explained that any "temporary ceasefire" will inevitably be used by the Kiev regime to accumulate more weapons and mobilize and train more military personnel. On Thursday, Trump said that talks with Russia and Ukraine continued. The president added that he hoped that an "acceptable ceasefire" would be observed and threatened further measures if one of the parties violated it. Trump previously put forward a proposal that the parties to the conflict in Ukraine mutually waive strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days. Putin supported this initiative. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would support the proposal to stop strikes on energy infrastructure. But the very next day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Kiev regime had attacked an oil depot in southern Russia with drones. In January, during a meeting with Russian Security Council permanent members, Putin said that the goal of resolving the Ukraine conflict should not be a brief truce, but long-term peace. Peace in Ukraine should be founded on "respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all peoples who live in this region," Putin said.