Putin ready for negotiations with West on certain conditions

IRYNA BALACHUK – SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2022, 11:49

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reported that Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, was still ready for negotiations regarding Ukraine.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlets RIA Novosti and RT

Quote from Lavrov: "[We are] ready to talk with the West about reducing tensions, but only if there are realistic proposals based on an equal approach."

Details: Lavrov also added that the leadership of Russia, "especially Putin, is still ready for negotiations regarding Ukraine."

He reported that over the last six months, "there were several initiatives coming from the Americans, and some other Western colleagues who asked for phone conversations with the Russian leader".

Lavrov also said that certain foreign ministers would turn to him with the same appeal, and he would always respond positively. 

The Russian foreign minister also added that Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said that Russia never did – and never does – turn down an offer of negotiations; it was allegedly "Ukraine [that refused talks] under direct instructions from its Western sponsors".   

Lavrov’s statement does not make it clear whether the leadership of the Russian Federation is ready for negotiations with the president of Ukraine, or whether it is ready to talk with the "collective West", which Putin accuses of escalating the tensions.

Background:

• On 27 October, at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose armies attacked Ukraine and violated the world order, said that sooner or later the West would have to start an "dialogue on an equal footing".
• Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian president, stated that a basis for talks between Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden could be the desire of the United States to listen to "Russia's concerns" about security guarantees.

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