At a press conference on Sunday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov repeated Moscow’s demands that Russia must first fulfill the military objectives of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine before renewing bilateral relations with Ukraine.
He said the topic of resuming bilateral relations between the two countries is “too theoretical a question right now.”
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“First, we still need to resolve the problem, and we need to fulfill the objectives of our special military operation,” as the Kremlin calls its invasion.
“For us, it is preferable to do this by political and diplomatic means, and the [war] continues when these means have become impossible, when all proposals for dialogue have been rejected – both by Ukraine itself and by the West,” Peskov insisted.
“If we manage to move into the channel of diplomatic settlement, then this will already be the preferred option for us,” he concluded. “But first, we need to resolve the situation, and then think about how relations will be built.”
According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), “Russia unilaterally imposed short-term ceasefires in Spring 2025 that disproportionately benefited Russia during prominent political events that the Kremlin then weaponized to accuse Ukraine of ceasefire violations… Russia has repeatedly articulated that it seeks regime change in Ukraine, a fundamental restructuring of NATO’s open-door policy, and the reduction of Ukraine’s military such that Ukraine cannot defend itself in the future.”
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The EU chief said Ukraine was progressing but must “preserve independent anti-corruption bodies, which are cornerstones of Ukraine’s rule of law.”
ISW analysts “continue to assess that Russia aims to continue delaying the negotiation process so as to make additional gains on the battlefield and extract concessions from Ukraine and the West.”
Peskov said that a meeting between Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before the end of August is highly unlikely.
Zelensky insisted last week, as representatives from both sides met in Turkey, that a complete ceasefire was the first step, rather than just a “memorandum” on the bases that the Kremlin demands.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s additional pressure on Moscow to come to meaningful talks, Russian forces continued to shell civilian residences and infrastructure over the weekend.
“Ukrainians always rebuild what has been destroyed. And today, during negotiations in Turkey, the representatives of Ukraine will once again insist on the need for an urgent and complete ceasefire, including a halt to such strikes on civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky wrote on Friday after meetings that resulted only in more prisoner exchanges.
As for Kyiv’s call for an in-person meeting between Zelensky and Putin, the Kremlin said it would not be possible without finalizing the so-called ceasefire memorandum.
“All the work necessary to finalize these memorandums [sic] is part of preparing for the meeting… Without completing this difficult groundwork, setting specific dates for a summit makes little sense,” Peskov said.