MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the situation in Ukraine can be settled at the negotiating table, but stressed that new territorial realities and the priority of reaching the goals of Russia’s special military operation must be taken into account.
"There are certain realities, which have become Russia’s domestic matters, I mean Russia’s new territories. There is the Russian constitution, which cannot but be reckoned with by anyone and the Russia side cannot infringe upon. These are very important realities. Moreover, there are certain goals Russia is attaining in the course of the special military operation," he said.
"Naturally, in favorable conditions and is the Ukrainian side demonstrate a corresponding attitude, it can be resolved at the negotiating table," he said. "But in this case, the most important thing is to achieve our goals. It is our unconditional priority."
"No one can, probably, now say that there are any signals [about the readiness for talks] from the Ukrainian side," Peskov noted. "So far, we proceed from the de jure impossibility for the Ukrainian side to hold any talks on this matter. This is what we proceed from."
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said earlier that Moscow "is now ready to take steps toward peaceful settlement." He stressed that Russia has been holding this position from the very first days of its operation, including during the two rounds of peace talks in Belarus, but later Kiev refused from further talks under the West’s influence. He noted however that if a new conflict flares up in the world, Ukraine will soon be forgotten. So, in his words, "there is no way out" other than to sign a peace treaty now without preliminary conditions.