Russia sees no prospects for resuming peace talks with Ukraine

MOSCOW

Russia sees no prospects for resuming peace talks with Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.

"We do not see any negotiating prospects at the moment and still state the absence of any prerequisites for such negotiations," Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

About the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, he said Russia does not plan to withdraw troops from the area.

"Now we are talking about the main thing – to force the Ukrainian side to stop the barbaric shelling of objects on the territory of the plant, which is fraught with very sad and catastrophic consequences," he stressed.

According to Peskov, President Vladimir Putin is in constant contact with Russia's military chiefs over the situation in Ukraine, and any actions are reported to him.

"The special military operation continues and will continue until all the goals that were originally set are achieved," he said.

Asked about the resumption of gas deliveries to Europe, Peskov said the Russian energy company Gazprom is in contact with the German technology company Siemens regarding the return of turbines sent to Canada for maintenance.

"As far as I understand, Gazprom is in direct contact with Siemens, because Siemens has obligations under existing turbine maintenance contracts.

"At the same time, Siemens as a company is burdened with the restrictions imposed by sanctions," he said.

Peskov refused to make any forecasts on how the Western sanctions will affect deliveries of Russian gas deliveries.

He also said the information that Russia offered India to buy its oil at a price below the market is untrue.