The Kremlin said on Friday that Europe must show it is ready to contribute to the Ukraine peace process before a decision is made on letting Europeans join the negotiations.
The comment by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggests Russia has not yet committed to including Europeans in the next round of talks, despite US negotiators saying on Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to their participation.
The talks have so far involved Russian, Ukrainian and US officials, who met in Abu Dhabi this week for the first time in nine months.
Two US envoys then flew to Moscow to meet Putin and later met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Dublin.
Asked if peace talks would soon resume with the added participation of Europeans, Peskov said: “Once we understand their genuine intention and readiness to contribute to the peace process, then it will be possible to make a decision on holding dialogue on a Ukrainian settlement in an expanded format.”
European involvement would mark a new phase in efforts to end the nearly five-year-old conflict, which has defied attempts by US President Donald Trump to secure a peace agreement.
Russia’s relations with European powers are dire. European states have armed Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow, and most have shunned direct contact with Putin since he sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin said on Thursday the US must work with its European allies to understand whether they wanted peace or war in Ukraine.
Peskov said Moscow would be open to the idea of some form of contacts with Europe before any European participation in peace negotiations, but that no concrete discussions on this had taken place.
Asked how the Kremlin would view French President Emmanuel Macron as a potential interlocutor at peace talks, Peskov said: “Every hour, reports are appearing that name completely different candidates.
So for the time being we are not in a position to say anything specific.”
