MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the Ukraine war would continue until the goals set by President Vladimir Putin were achieved by military action or by negotiation.
Putin has demanded that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw fully from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own – terms Kyiv has rejected as tantamount to surrender.
“The special military operation will end when all the objectives set by the president and commander-in-chief have been achieved,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, using Moscow’s term for the conflict.
“These goals can be achieved as a result of the special military operation or a result of relevant negotiations.”
Peskov said no talks between Moscow and Kyiv were currently under way because “the Ukrainian side refuses any negotiations”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday made the case for a diplomatic settlement to the war and raised the idea of foreign troops being deployed in Ukraine until it could join NATO.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)