MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been open to talks on Ukraine from the very beginning, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
This is how he commented on Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words that Putin is now allegedly "much softer and more open to dialogue than in the past".
"Putin, in fact, has been open to talks from the very beginning. The president has repeatedly said so himself," the Kremlin spokesman noted, commenting on this statement.
He recalled that Putin had tried to initiate talks with NATO, the US and the OSCE even before the special military operation began. "Putin was open to talks when the text of the document between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators was actually agreed upon. So here, in this respect, nothing has changed," Peskov pointed out.
According to the official, only Kiev's position has changed, because "the Ukrainian side has enshrined not continuing talks with Russia." "That is, the Ukrainian law now prohibits any negotiations," he noted.
The Kremlin spokesman also responded to a question about a possible new telephone conversation between Putin and Erdogan. "As for the phone conversation with Erdogan, so far it is not on the schedule. But they talk often, and conversations are sometimes coordinated literally in a matter of hours," Peskov concluded.