ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are possible, but on the conditions that the present-day situation is taken into consideration and the absolute security for Russia is ensured, Chairwoman of the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia’s Parliament) Valentina Matviyenko said on Friday.
"There is a possibility for negotiations," Matviyenko said in an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-1 TV channel on the sidelines of the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"However, Russia’s approach is well-known in order to transfer the negotiations from the dimension of possibility to reality," she continued. "It [Russia’s approach] has been repeatedly voiced by the Russian president and the rest of us."
"Negotiations are possible, but firstly, under conditions of the real situation and secondly, under the condition of the absolute security for Russia, which are the main objectives of the special military operation," Matviyenko added.
She continued that "sooner or later" the Russian-Ukrainian talks must be held, but Russia would not make any concessions regarding its previously voiced conditions.
"So far, we see no officials [in Ukraine] that we can hold negotiations with," she said. "Anyway, it should be done sooner or later. We won't back down on any of our terms, I can tell you that for sure," Russia’s top senator said.
"We will never compromise our security, we will never work and maintain any kind of relations with the Nazi regime, we will never talk about negotiations under the dictate of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky or under these senseless, worthless Swiss meetings," she noted.
The Swiss authorities plan to convene a conference on Ukraine at the Burgenstock Resort on June 15-16. According to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Bern has invited more than 160 delegations to the conference, including from the G7, G20 and BRICS countries. The Swiss authorities added, however, that Russia was not on the invitation list.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated earlier that Russia would not beg to be invited to the event if it’s not wanted there. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in turn, noted that this conference was "a path to nowhere" and Moscow did not see the West’s readiness for an honest dialogue. Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly stressed that Moscow had never rejected the idea of resolving the conflict with Kiev through negotiations.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is being held on June 5-8. This year’s theme will be "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World."
Scheduled events include meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the information partner of the event.