(VOVWORLD) - Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's readiness to begin peace talks in a statement on Wednesday.
 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
However, Peskov noted that Ukraine's legal ban on holding negotiations with Russia is still in place. The spokesman pointed to a September 2022 decree in which Zelensky formally declared negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin “impossible.”
Peskov also said Moscow considers Minsk the best location for potential trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, in response to Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Lukashenko’s proposal to host peace negotiations in the Belarusian capital.
The same day, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and national security adviser Michael Waltz both said the US had paused intelligence sharing in addition to military aid. They expressed optimism that negotiations would resume shortly with Ukraine on a path to ending the conflict.
“We are having good talks on location for the next round of negotiations, on delegations, on substance,” Waltz said.