(Reuters) – Moscow is yet to receive a good offer to start talks on Ukraine, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said in remarks published on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed Washington was progressing in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“It is important that words be backed up by practical steps that take into account Russia’s legitimate interests, demonstrating a readiness to eradicate the root causes of the crisis and recognise the new realities,” Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told RIA state news agency in an interview.
“Concrete proposals of this nature have not yet been received,” he said.
There has been a slew of contradictory or guarded messages from Washington and Moscow in recent days about possible talks between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on bringing an end to the war that Moscow started nearly three years ago.
Trump said over the weekend that he has spoken with Putin and he expects more conversations to come.
“I do believe we’re making progress,” Trump said. “We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS state news agency on Sunday that “many different communications are emerging” on talks between Putin and Trump and that he may not be aware of everything.
“Therefore, in this case, I can neither confirm nor deny it,” Peskov said when asked by TASS to comment.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war and that he will meet with Putin to discuss it. On Sunday, Trump told reporters that he would meet with Putin at an appropriate time.
On Friday, Trump said he would probably meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week to discuss ending the war.
Putin sees the war, which marks its third anniversary on February 24, as existential for Russia’s survival. Kyiv and its Western allies see it as an unprovoked colonial-style land grab.
Zelenskiy told Reuters that he wanted Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. The Ukrainian president has ruled out in the past ceding any territory to Russia and insisted on his number-one priority of NATO integration.
Galuzin told RIA that Moscow remains open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but it will keep its demand unchanged: no further expansion of NATO and protection of rights of Russian residents in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jamie Freed)
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