Russia to Continue Operation in Ukraine, as Kiev Does Not Want to Negotiate — Kremlin

"For now, we do not see a negotiating table," Dmitry Peskov said

© Maxim Churusov/TASS

MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine by means of continuing the special military operation, as Kiev does not want to negotiate, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"The main thing is the position which has been repeatedly stated by President [Vladimir] Zelensky, indicating that Ukraine, both de facto and de jure, cannot and does not want to conduct negotiations," Peskov told the media on Tuesday.

"Accordingly, Russia’s goals will be achieved by means of continuing the special military operation," Peskov stressed.

The Kremlin spokesman also commented on French President Emmanuel Macron's request to Chinese President Xi Jinping to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to return to the negotiating table for talks on a settlement in Ukraine.

"It goes without saying," Peskov replied to a question whether Kiev should be persuaded to return to negotiations first.

"For now, we do not see a negotiating table," Peskov said.

He added that the Kremlin had seen Zelensky's statements about a ten-point plan for achieving peace, made at the G20 summit.

Earlier, the Ukrainian leader addressed participants at the G20 summit by video link. He said that the time had come to stop the fighting, but added that Kiev would not sign the Minsk-3 deal. The Minsk agreements, reached in 2015, were conceived as the basis for a settlement in Donbass. Kiev procrastinated and refused to implement them for years. Then at a certain point it declared the political part of this package as unacceptable. Also, it refused to conduct a direct dialogue with the Donbass republics.