MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Russia is ready to talk about settling the Ukraine conflict, but sees nothing but stonewalling from the Kiev regime and its Western handlers, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said.
Answering a TASS question, the senior Russian diplomat noted that any future talks on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis should be based on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s previously laid out proposals, and the West, along with the Kiev regime, must demonstrate their readiness to negotiate.
"However, we see that the West has not yet even bothered to tell the Kiev regime to lift its self-ban on talks with Russian leaders. We have never shut the door on talks and remain open to them. It is the Kiev regime and its Western puppeteers who are obstructing dialogue," he stressed.
At a meeting with senior officials from Russia’s foreign ministry in mid-June, Russian President Vladimir Putin set forth the conditions for resolving the situation in Ukraine, which included Ukraine withdrawing troops from Donbass and Novorossia and abandoning plans to join NATO. In addition, Moscow insists that all Western sanctions be lifted and Ukraine’s non-bloc and non-nuclear status be guaranteed.
However, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on December 4 that there are no grounds for talks with Ukraine as of yet.