Kremlin says New Year cease-fire 'not on agenda'

MOSCOW

Russia has not received any proposal on a possible New Year cease-fire in Ukraine and therefore this question is not on the agenda, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"No proposals have been received from anyone, there is no such topic on the agenda," he said at a press briefing in Moscow in answer to a question on the possibility.

Commenting on media reports about possible deliveries of US Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine, Peskov said: "I would not comment on it yet, because these are all media reports. Nowadays, media reports are unreliable, so we will wait for some official information."

Asked if he shares the vision of deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who said Patriot systems will be "a legitimate target," Peskov said: "Definitely."

Turning to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Peskov said work is underway to organize a trilateral meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders.

"You know that an informal meeting of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) heads of state is planned, where three (leaders) will have the opportunity at least to talk on the sidelines. How it will develop further is still a work in progress," he said.

Peskov declined to specify any details of a response to the Russian oil price cap, introduced by the EU, saying a presidential decree will be issued on the matter soon.

About suing Lithuania in the World Trade Organization for unilaterally imposing restriction on transit from Russia to its semi-exclave Kaliningrad region through its territory, Peskov said "first, it will have to be carefully weighed, worked out from the point of view of lawyers, legal experts in order to plan possible steps in the best way."