Kremlin says idea of talks between Russian, US leaders unlikely to find support in West

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Kremlin said on Sunday that the idea of talks between the leaders of Russia and the US, initially proposed by their Belarusian counterpart, is unlikely to find support in the West.

“It is hardly possible to hope for some kind of reciprocity and a response to such an initiative from someone from the collective West,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Rossiya-1 broadcaster during an interview.

Referring to a visit by US President Joe Biden to the Polish capital Warsaw on Feb. 20-22, which he said will not include any other stops, Peskov further said that this tour shows there is no intent from Washington to hold talks.

“There is no readiness or openness for peaceful initiatives on the part of the collective West,” Peskov noted.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday offered, during a news conference, to organize a meeting in Minsk between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin "for the sake of stopping the war" in Ukraine.

Peskov also said that the recent statements made by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland emphasize “the role of the US as the main provocateur of international tension.”

During an online event by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace last Thursday, Nuland said that the US supports strikes on Russian military installations in Crimea based on Washington’s recognition of Crimea as part of Ukraine.

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, a move widely viewed as illegal by the international community, including Türkiye and the UN General Assembly.