Russia says many countries are ready to negotiate on Ukraine

According to TASS news agency on February 4, Alexei Polishchuk, head of the Department for CIS countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview that many countries have expressed their desire to become the basis for future negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Asked whether Russia had any specific proposals from countries ready to hold talks on Ukraine on their territory, Polishchuk said: "We have no shortage of such proposals. Some countries have previously provided a platform for talks, first of all our ally Belarus."

Mr Polischuk added that Russia is grateful to “our partners for their willingness to provide an intermediate venue and become a bridge. However, the main question now is not where the negotiations will take place, but with whom and on what issues it will be possible to negotiate and agree.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated their readiness for negotiations to resolve the conflict. At the same time, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted that the main obstacles are the impossibility of negotiations due to the ban imposed by the decree of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Ukrainian initiatives that demonstrate Kiev's complete detachment from current reality.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that Mr. Zelensky’s legitimacy has ended, so it is important to understand with whom in Kiev to negotiate in order to sign legally binding documents. Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed that negotiations with Ukraine are possible, but the results must be approved by the legitimate government of Ukraine.

Also according to TASS, US President Donald Trump will have a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the next 48 hours.

“President Trump said in the Oval Office that it would happen in the next few days,” White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters on February 3 (Washington time).