CHELYABINSK, August 31, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin in his statement was not referring to giving statehood to Novorossia, only to inclusive talks inside Ukraine, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
After Putin’s words in an interview to Russia’s TV Channel One were misinterpreted, Peskov told reporters that “the interpretations, suggesting that the president was referring to eastern Ukraine’s statehood, are wrong, which becomes clear after reading his statement.”
“The president, as a matter of fact, was referring to the need of the inclusive talks, the earliest beginning of which had been emphasised way back in documents, signed in various formats,” Pskov added.
“These are the inclusive talks that should determine the relationship with the eastern regions, that is, negotiations inside Ukraine on the internal Ukrainian order with respect for the interests of the country’s eastern regions, the interests of Novorossia: the way, extent and mechanisms of this process. That’s what the president meant,” the press secretary said.
Peskov added that giving some status to Novorossia was totally out of the question.
“This is very clear from the president’s statement,” he said.
Only Kiev can agree with Novorossia on conflict settlement, as it is Ukraine’s internal affair.
He told reporters that there could be no agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents on the conflict settlement.
“This is impossible, because it’s not a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but an internal Ukrainian conflict,” Peskov said.