MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Russia is not against a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, but it is Kiev that has ‘committed all the arrangements to flames’ and is not ready to negotiate, Russian President Vladimir Putin told China Media Group in an interview published on the Kremlin website.

"As for what needs to be done and how it needs to be done in order to end the conflict by peaceful means: we have never been against this," Putin said. He recalled that in the spring of 2022 in Istanbul, the sides had practically reached an agreement, taking into account the provision of Russia's legitimate security interests. "The Ukrainian side put forward very strict demands in terms of security, and we almost accepted them. However, as soon as we pulled our troops back from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, the Ukrainian side committed all the arrangements to flames," the president recalled. "They announced that they would seek to defeat Russia and secure a victory on the battlefield, to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. They launched an active military operation, the so-called counteroffensive. It has continued since 4 June. No results achieved so far, only massive losses," the Russian head of state emphasized.

"Unfortunately, the opposing side does not want to enter into any negotiations. In fact, the President of Ukraine has even issued a decree prohibiting everyone - including himself - to conduct any negotiations with us. How can we conduct negotiations if they are not willing to and even issued a regulation prohibiting such negotiations? So if the Ukrainian side is willing to, I guess the first thing to do is to revoke the decree and express the readiness for the negotiations," Putin said. "We are ready [to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine], including on the basis of the proposals by our Chinese friends," he said, pointing to the peace plan for a Ukrainian settlement proposed by Beijing earlier this year.