Kremlin regime says it will continue Ukraine talks but ‘trusts only itself’

Peskov said Moscow values Washington’s efforts in negotiations aimed at ending the war but proceeds from its own interests.

“We trust, first and foremost, only ourselves, and it is we who defend our own interests,” Peskov said, commenting on Washington’s mediation in efforts to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine amid U.S. strikes on Iran.

Peskov added that Russia has its own interests that it must secure.

“And it is in our interests to continue these negotiations. We will, of course, maintain openness to these negotiations,” Peskov was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency Interfax.

On Feb. 28, Bloomberg reported, citing its own sources, that Russian officials consider it pointless to continue peace talks with Ukraine under U.S. leadership if Kyiv does not agree to territorial concessions.

According to Bloomberg’s interlocutors, talks scheduled for this week could prove decisive — in the sense that Russia would likely withdraw if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not make concessions.

If Ukraine agrees to withdraw troops from the entire Donetsk Oblast, Russia would allegedly be prepared to sign a draft memorandum on a peace agreement, Bloomberg’s sources said.

That would be followed by a meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and the United States to confirm the agreement and the start of a “mutual withdrawal of Russian and Ukrainian armies.”