President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. File photoMOSCOW, June 7Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his readiness for peace talks with Putin, the Financial Times writes. Putin,» the newspaper, which organized a video conference with Zelensky, said in a statement. He also said that a stalemate in the conflict with the Russian Federation was «not an option» for Kyiv and again called on the West to provide Ukraine with military support.Ukraine has become the subject of «hidden bargaining»Ukraine and Russia have been negotiating a diplomatic settlement of the conflict almost since the beginning of the Russian military operation, but in April the dialogue was interrupted. The Russian Foreign Ministry later stated that Kyiv itself put negotiations with the Russian Federation on pause and did not respond to Moscow's proposals on the draft treaty. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that the leadership of Ukraine constantly makes contradictory statements, which does not make it possible to understand what Kyiv wants, and «negotiations are now frozen by decision and in accordance with the line chosen by the Ukrainian side.» At the end of May, the minister Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov stated that Zelensky puts forward frivolous conditions for the resumption of negotiations with Russia and a meeting with Putin. The Russian Foreign Minister recalled that Zelensky insists on negotiations exclusively between him and Putin, without any intermediaries, and only after Ukraine regains control of the territory as of February 23. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
