Moscow plays for time

Focus on war aims: Kremlin rebuffs Kiev

Vladimir Putin does not want to hear about compromises.

(Bild: AP/Sputnik)

The Kremlin has made it clear that it will continue to strictly reject compromises. Kiev's signaled willingness to talk is being received rather sceptically in Moscow. Nevertheless, the "war aims" are to be enforced.  

"Whether through the special military operation or through negotiations - we have no alternative to achieving our goals. And we will achieve them in any case," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Of course, negotiations are preferable, Peskov continued.

However, talks were made more difficult by the fact that Volodymyr Zelenskyi had no legitimacy as President of Ukraine, he claimed once again. He saw Kiev's attempts to promote a diplomatic solution via Beijing as an emergency situation for Ukraine.

What does this mean?
Russian President Vladimir Putin had named Ukraine's renunciation of NATO membership and several territories in the east and south-east of the country as war aims.

Kuleba with his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing

(Bild: AP/Xinhua)

Moscow is demanding the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya and is also sticking to its demand for the "denazification of Ukraine", which the Kremlin believes means the establishment of a government in Kiev that is dependent on Russia. Translated, this means complete capitulation and a surrender of sovereignty.

Ukraine does not want to give up
Kiev, for its part, had demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. However, the latest initiatives by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba indicate that the Ukrainians may be willing to compromise.

During his trip to China, Kuleba attempted to coordinate his own peace plan with the diplomatic solution to the conflict offered by Beijing. He had mentioned direct talks with Moscow as a goal.

Moscow is playing for time
So far, the details of the offer are unclear to him, said Peskov. However, it was obvious that the Ukrainian leadership was in trouble. "Sooner or later - perhaps not as quickly as we had hoped - the number of people trying to take a sober look at what is happening will increase."