MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday it had noted that President-elect Donald Trump’s circle was speaking about a potential peace plan for Ukraine while the current U.S. administration of Joe Biden was not and was seeking to escalate the conflict instead.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made his remarks after being asked to comment on an interview that Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for national security adviser, gave to Fox News on Sunday.
Waltz said that Trump had been “very concerned” about an escalation in fighting between Russia and Ukraine and that the war must be brought “to a responsible end”.
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Waltz noted what he said was the involvement of North Korea and Iran in the conflict, Russia’s use of a hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine, a decision by some Western countries to let Kyiv fire their missiles deep into Russia, and said South Korea was considering whether to get involved too.
“What we need to be discussing is who’s at that table, whether it’s an agreement, an armistice, how to get both sides to the table, and then what’s the framework of a deal,” Waltz said.
Peskov said the Kremlin had taken note of the comments and that President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly signalled that Moscow was ready for dialogue over Ukraine.
“Indeed, from the circle of Trump supporters and those who have been nominated for future positions in the future administration, the word ‘peace’ or ‘peace plan’ is being heard,” Peskov said, when asked about Waltz’s comments.
“No such words are being heard from the current (Biden) administration while provocative escalatory actions continue. That is the reality that we face,” he said.
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Putin spelled out in June what he wanted in order to start peace talks – for Ukraine to drop its NATO membership ambitions and to hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow.
Moscow says the terms reflect reality on the battlefield where Russian forces have been advancing. But Ukraine says such terms would amount to an unacceptable capitulation for Kyiv.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Andrew Osborn/Anastasia Teterevleva; editing by Andrew Osborn)
