Shafaqna Pakistan: Russia is willing to consider new proposals aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict, but any potential settlement must take into account what Moscow describes as the “realities on the ground,” a senior Russian diplomat said on Friday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian media outlet News.ru that Washington had shown signs of being ready for “constructive dialogue” and appeared to have a better understanding of Russia’s position.
However, Ryabkov said the key question was whether the United States could influence Kyiv and its European allies, whom he accused of continuing to seek Russia’s “strategic defeat”.
US-Russia negotiations aimed at ending the Ukraine war have largely stalled amid the ongoing conflict in Iran.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that it had no information yet on a possible next visit to Moscow by US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who have led negotiations with Russia in the past.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that Washington was committed to helping end the war, following a meeting in Manila with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
But Rubio cautioned there was no quick deal ahead and the US was trying to “find a middle ground”.
Ryabkov said Russia was ready to listen to Rubio’s new ideas and continue dialogue with Washington. “The Russian Federation is ready to listen to any reasonable proposals and ideas that are in line with the goals set by the Russian president and meet the ‘realities on the ground’,” he said.
After almost four-and-a-half years of war, Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory. Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to talks, but that these must recognise the “new realities on the ground”.
Nuclear talks
In the interview, Ryabkov also suggested Russia was keen to maintain discussions with the US on nuclear weapons. The New START nuclear treaty expired in February, leaving the world’s two biggest nuclear-armed powers with no binding constraints on their strategic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.
Moscow has said it will keep observing the treaty’s missile and warhead limits as long as Washington does the same.
“We remain open in the future to find political and diplomatic ways to stabilise this area,” Ryabkov said.
Source: Express Tribune
