Russia ready to negotiate with current or future Ukrainian President

Moscow, Oct 4 (IANS) To resume peace talks with Kiev, Moscow will wait for either a change of stance by the current Ukrainian President or for a new leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, as per media reports.

This comes after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree ruling out negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, RT reported.

Even before the launch of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in late February, Moscow "was the supporter of the idea of achieving the terms put forward by the Russian side through diplomatic means", Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

Russia is still ready to look for a negotiated solution to the conflict between the neighbours, according to the spokesman. But "it takes two parties to negotiate", he noted.

"We'll now be waiting for the current president to change his stance or for the arrival of the future president of Ukraine, who would change his position in the interests of the Ukrainian people," Peskov said, RT reported.

On Tuesday, Zelensky signed a decree on Ukraine officially rejecting peace talks with Putin. It rubber stamped decisions made by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council on Friday, just hours after Putin signed agreements on Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions joining Russia.

One of the resolutions was: "Stating the impossibility of conducting negotiations with Russia's President Vladimir Putin."

Zelensky recorded a video address after the meeting, claiming that "we [Ukraine] are ready for dialogue with Russia, but with another President of Russia."

In his speech on Friday, Putin called upon Ukraine to "cease all hostilities, stop the war it started back in 2014 and return to the negotiating table".