Elena Teslova
18 November 2022•Update: 19 November 2022
MOSCOW
The West could help organize stable Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, the Kremlin said on Friday.
"Communication with the West could also be a guiding, reinforcing, and strengthening element of such communication (Russian-Ukrainian peace talks), because the directives that come from there are very scrupulously implemented by Kyiv," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing in Moscow.
Commenting on remarks by Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi, who suggested "luring" Russia's President Vladimir Putin to a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Peskov recommended that Zelenskyy first be "lured."
Moscow has repeatedly criticized Zelenskyy for ruling out talks with Russia's current leadership under a law he signed last month following the annexation of parts of Ukraine.
Peskov also commented on a ruling by the Hague, recognizing the absence of direct guilt of Russia in the downing of Malaysian flight MH17, saying he regretted that Russia was not part of the pre-trial investigation.
As for the verdict itself, he said Moscow would announce its assessments after first deeply analyzing it.
About a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday, calling on Russia to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Peskov said Moscow would remain in touch with the international watchdog.
He also touched on a statement Sweden released hours earlier, confirming that the Nord Stream gas pipelines had been the target of sabotage or terror attack when they were damaged in explosions earlier this year.
The statement affirms the findings that Russian intelligence had made public right after the incident, said Peskov, adding: "It's very important not to stop, it's very important to find the one who is behind this undermining."
Asked about the restoration of the pipelines, Peskov said specialists first had to assess the condition and damage to the infrastructure.
