MOSCOW

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia maintains a consistent position on the Ukrainian conflict and is making every effort to achieve peace.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said that from the very beginning, efforts were made to end this peacefully, and an agreement was developed in Istanbul in March 2022.

"And then, after the intervention of Great Britain in this peace process, things returned to the military track again," he said.

Since it was not possible to resolve the conflict peacefully, the "special military operation continues," at the same time, Russia maintains its openness to achieving its goals through political and diplomatic means, he said.

Work in this direction continues, now everything depends on the actions of the Kyiv regime, he noted, arguing that Russia "is making every effort to achieve peace."

"The main goal is to ensure the safety of people who lived in eastern Ukraine and who were truly in mortal danger. That is the main thing," he said.

The timing and location of a new round of negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement have not yet been agreed upon, Peskov said.

"At the moment, I cannot confirm exact dates, they still need to be finally agreed upon," he said. "We really hope that this work will be continued."

Peskov said that "since a certain time," the conflict in Ukraine ceased to be simply a "military operation against the Kyiv regime" and has become a confrontation between Russia and the West, which directly intervened in the conflict "in an attempt to crush Moscow."

Russia will take into account the experience of the last four years in its actions on the world stage and in building relations with many countries and international organizations, he stressed.

"Russia's eyes have been opened to many international processes, to how to further build relations with many international organizations and capitals," Peskov said.

He added that "these are very important four years" in Russia's history, the country will move forward, this time "will always remain in people's memory" as Russia and Russians changed very much in terms of consolidation and the "maturing of society."

"Both Russia and Russians have indeed changed a great deal over the past four years. There has been a phenomenal consolidation of society around the president, there has probably been a maturing of society in terms of understanding our roots, in terms of understanding what is good and what is bad throughout the world, in international affairs," he said.

About media reports claiming Russia and the US had talks on arms control in Geneva on Feb.17-18, Peskov said: "I have nothing to say on this subject thus far."