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Kremlin spokesman dismisses Blinken’s claims Putin not ready for talks on Ukraine

Dmitry Peskov emphasized that it was Russia and its president that repeatedly declared their readiness to conduct such negotiations

VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ready for negotiations on Ukraine do not correspond to reality, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

"Blinken argued that Ukraine was ready for negotiations while there was no such readiness on Putin's part. From our point of view, this does not correspond to reality," Peskov said.

He noted that it was Russia that exerted efforts for the sake of producing a peace plan in March 2022, and it was not the Russian side that left its seat at the negotiating table then. The presidential spokesman emphasized that it was Russia and its president that repeatedly declared their readiness to conduct such negotiations.

"But in discussing the readiness to negotiate one must be aware of the realities that have emerged since last March. Ukraine was unable to negotiate on the terms of last March. Now we cannot ignore the new conditions: we cannot brush aside the territories of Russia, we cannot brush aside the processes that took place in the new regions of Russia, and we cannot brush aside the will of the population of these new regions. These are all new conditions that cannot be ignored," Peskov said.

He recalled that Putin had repeatedly declared the readiness of the Russian side to achieve its goals by political and diplomatic means.