Russian Diplomat Sets Out Key Condition for Talks with Ukraine

The key condition that will allow peace talks between Ukraine and Russia to be a success will be negotiations proceeding without Western mediators, according to a senior Russian diplomat.

The director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Department of Commonwealth of Independent States, Alexey Polishchuk, made the comments in an interview with the state-run TASS news agency, which was published on Friday.

"If and when those contacts [with Ukraine] are resumed, they will most likely be direct as well. And it would be the best option as experience has proven that Western mediators often pursue their own objectives and try to influence the talks, acting not for settlement of the conflict, but in their own political and economic interests," Polishchuk said when asked whether Moscow was willing to hold talks with Kyiv about ending the war.

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian foreign ministry for comment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last February, and there hasn't been much of a breakthrough in the few rounds of peace talks that took place last year. Those talks were direct and primarily facilitated by Turkey, considered a somewhat neutral state in the conflict, and Belarus, a close ally of Russia.

Polishchuk added: "Until now we have only interacted with the Ukrainians directly, using the platforms that were kindly provided to us, which we really appreciate. Three rounds of the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue were held in Belarus and one in Turkey in February-April of last year."

He said that later in the year, "almost daily contacts" were held with the Ukrainian side via video conference.

Polishchuk also said there are around 20 proposals from different countries to mediate the conflict, including Turkey, South Africa, and Israel, but not all of the offers can be trusted. Polischuk said that was because some of them had sanctioned Russia and supported Ukraine with military aid.

The diplomat accused Kyiv of being "a tool in the hands of the West, primarily the U.S.," adding that he believed that it would be difficult to reach a diplomatic settlement in the near future.

"In fact, Russia is not against Ukraine, but rather opposes the NATO-Ukrainian military-industrial conglomerate, in which Ukrainians are a tool being used to fight Russia, while NATO and its members work in the background by supplying weapons and intelligence," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country has five conditions for peace with its neighbor. These include new security guarantees for Ukraine as well as Russia relinquishing annexed territories such as Crimea, which are internationally recognized as Ukrainian.

Polishchuk said Zelensky's plan for a peace summit at the U.N. was an "unserious" and "populist" move.

"Since Kyiv interrupted the negotiation process, the situation has changed, with new regions having joined Russia," he said.

He also said that Poland is serving as the main hub for weapons from the West to help Ukraine before accusing it of trying to find ways to reclaim the territory it lost in World War II.

Russia has experienced several military setbacks in the nearly year-old war, making some progress in the east and in the south but ceding occupied land back to Ukraine in counteroffensives. Tens of thousands of military personnel and civilians have died in the fighting since "the special military operation" began.