Moscow says will hear proposals but doubts Washington\u2019s sway over Kyiv, European sponsors
\n Moscow
\nRussia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the \u201crealities on the ground\u201d.
\nRussian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with media outlet News.ru published on Friday that the United States demonstrated a readiness for \u201cconstructive dialogue\u201d and an \u201cunderstanding of Russia\u2019s position\u201d.
\n\u201cAt this stage, it is more important to what extent Washington is able to influence the decisions of the Kyiv regime and its European sponsors, who still dream of a \u2018strategic defeat\u2019 of Russia,\u201d he told the outlet.
\nNegotiations between Russia and the US to bring about an end to the conflict in Ukraine have largely stalled amid the war in Iran.
\nThe Kremlin said on Thursday that it had no information yet on a possible next visit to Moscow by US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who have led negotiations with Russia in the past.
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that Washington was committed to helping end the war, following a meeting in Manila with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
\nBut Rubio cautioned there was no quick deal ahead and the US was trying to \u201cfind a middle ground\u201d.
\nRyabkov said Russia was ready to listen to Rubio\u2019s new ideas and continue dialogue with Washington. \u201cThe Russian Federation is ready to listen to any reasonable proposals and ideas that are in line with the goals set by the Russian president and meet the \u2018realities on the ground\u2019,\u201d he said.
\nAfter almost four-and-a-half years of war, Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine\u2019s internationally recognised territory. Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to talks, but that these must recognise the \u201cnew realities on the ground\u201d.
\nNuclear talks
\nIn the interview, Ryabkov also suggested Russia was keen to maintain discussions with the US on nuclear weapons. The New START nuclear treaty expired in February, leaving the world\u2019s two biggest nuclear-armed powers with no binding constraints on their strategic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.
\nMoscow has said it will keep observing the treaty\u2019s missile and warhead limits as long as Washington does the same.
\n\u201cWe remain open in the future to find political and diplomatic ways to stabilise this area,\u201d Ryabkov said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow says will hear proposals but doubts Washington\u2019s sway over Kyiv, European sponsors Moscow Russia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the \u201crealities on the ground\u201d. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n