Clear Kyiv not willing to negotiate: Kremlin

LONDON: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement that there will be no “Minsk 3” deal to end the fighting in Ukraine confirms that Kyiv is not interested in holding peace talks with Moscow, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Speaking via video link to the G20 summit in Bali, the Ukrainian president on Tuesday ruled out a third “Minsk agreement”, a reference to two failed ceasefire deals between Kyiv and Moscow over the status of the eastern Donbas region.

“We will not allow Russia to wait, build up its forces, and then start a new series of terror and global destabilisation. There will be no Minsk 3, which Russia will violate immediately after the agreement,” Zelensky said.

Asked on Tuesday whether the statement confirms that Kyiv is unwilling to negotiate with Russia, Peskov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency: “Absolutely.”

Peace talks between the two sides have been scant in recent months, following a breakdown of early attempts to broker a ceasefire in Istanbul during the first weeks of the conflict.

Russia’s operation is now a defensive one: Official

Russia is now engaged in a defensive operation in Ukraine following its withdrawal from the southern city of Kherson, a Western official said on Tuesday, after Zelensky vowed to reclaim all its occupied territory.

“It’s clear that for now, the Russia occupation of Ukraine is a defensive operation,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said he expected the situation on the battlefield would be broadly static into next year.