Russia only sees it possible to negotiate the solutions to the war in Ukraine under its demands

Russia says it is willing to talk about the war it ordered against Ukraine, but in its own way.

In a new rhetorical game, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, assured that President Vladimir Putin has always been “open” to dialogue on the conflict, although for this the West must comply with his demands.

Peskov reiterated that the refusal of the United States and its European allies to recognize the territories that Moscow annexed from Ukraine, which it claims as its own, hinders the search for alternatives to end the hostilities that began more than nine months ago.

Previously, Moscow has also demanded extensive security guarantees, including a reversal of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) extension into eastern Europe.

“The President of the Russian Federation has always been, is and continues to be open to negotiations to guarantee our interests (…) The United States still does not recognize Russia’s new territories. And of course, this makes it considerably difficult to find any common denominator that would make a joint debate possible,” said Putin’s spokesman at a press conference on Friday, December 2.

This is the first public response to the call of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who a day before in Washington said he was willing to talk if Putin showed that “he is looking for a way to end the war.”

Biden’s remarks came during a visit to the White House by his French counterpart and ally against the Russian war, Emmanuel Macron. Both maintained that they would hold Russia accountable for its “crimes” on Ukrainian soil, but at the same time the US president opened a door for dialogue.

However, Biden stressed that so far Moscow has not shown signs of change.

Now, with winter deepening, Western countries are trying to ramp up aid to the invaded nation as it reels from Russian missile and drone attacks on key energy infrastructure, leaving millions of Ukrainians without heat, electricity or water.

In its latest update on the hostilities, the Ukrainian General Staff indicated that the fighting is taking place in the east of the country, with the city of Bakhmut the main target of artillery assaults by the Kremlin military, while troops Russian forces in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in the south remain on the defensive.

Scholz urges Putin to withdraw his troops; Moscow demands that Berlin “revise” its position on Ukraine

A phone call this Friday between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin was the scene of a series of lawsuits and disagreements.

Putin assured that the position of Berlin and the other Western nations towards the conflict is “destructive”, for which he asked the German government to “review” its approach.

“Attention was drawn to the destructive line of Western states, including Germany, which are injecting weapons into the kyiv regime and training the Ukrainian Army (…) All this, as well as the broad political and financial support for Ukraine, leads to the fact that kyiv completely rejects the idea of ​​any negotiations,” the Kremlin said.

In addition, Putin defended missile attacks by his troops against civilian infrastructure on Ukrainian territory. He said they are “inevitable” and a forced response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian facilities, including a key bridge between Russia and Crimea, a peninsula in southern Ukraine that Moscow annexed in 2014.

For his part, the leader of the German government urged Putin to withdraw his troops from the neighboring country and allow a “diplomatic solution.”

Olaf Sholz also confirmed to the man who has been leading Russia for more than 20 years Germany’s determination to “support Ukraine” and contribute to its defense against Russian aggression, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.

What was exposed in the communication demonstrates the abyss between Russia and the Western governments on Ukraine, despite the fact that both Moscow and Washington have indicated in the last 24 hours that in principle they are open to possible talks with the government of the aggressor country.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists that peace talks are only possible if Russia stops attacking his nation and withdraws its troops.

Ukrainian embassies in Europe receive “bloody packages”

Several Ukrainian diplomatic offices in the European Union reported in recent hours that they received “bloody packages” containing animal eyes.

Specifically, the objects, soaked in a liquid with a characteristic color and smell, were sent to the kyiv embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia and Italy, and to the consulates general of the Italian city of Naples, the Polish city from Krakow and Brno, in the Czech Republic, said the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko.

These shipments are recorded after Spain reported on Thursday, December 1, that the United States embassy in Madrid, as well as government entities, received incendiary envelopes.

However, it was also known that the first package of this type was addressed to the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, on November 24.

Russia quickly issued statements in which it distanced itself from the facts and assured that it condemned what happened.

With Reuters and EFE