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Kremlin does not consider the West being open to peace initiatives

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the idea of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on talks between Russian and US leaders Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden is unlikely to gain support in the West

© Marina Lyistseva/TASS

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. The West is not yet showing any readiness for peaceful initiatives on the situation in Ukraine, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"So far there is no readiness or openness towards peaceful initiatives on the part of the collective West," he said.

The idea of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on talks between Russian and US leaders Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden is unlikely to gain support in the West, Peskov added. "It is hardly possible to expect any type of reciprocity or response to such an endeavor from any member of the collective West," he said.

Earlier, Lukashenko invited Biden to Minsk, saying he was willing to arrange his meeting with Putin.

Peskov stressed that Biden "will not have any stops during his upcoming European trip, except in Poland." On February 20-22, Joe Biden is expected to visit Poland, where he will meet with his counterpart Andrzej Duda and the leaders of the "Bucharest Nine" countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Estonia).

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