Moscow values Washingtons mediation efforts in the settlement of the conflict, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

Russia remains open to achieving its goals in the Ukraine conflict through peaceful means, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

Peskov, speaking before President Vladimir Putin'sscheduledphone call with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, expressed appreciation for Washington's mediation efforts, noting that "if it really helps us achieve our goals by peaceful means, that would certainly be preferable."

He also recalled that Putin's 2021 proposal to address Russian security concerns over NATO expansion was rejected by the US-led alliance and then-President Joe Biden's administration.

Moscow's stated objectives include keeping Ukraine out of NATO, ending Kiev's policies that it considers discriminatory against ethnic Russians, and curbing the influence of extreme Ukrainian nationalist groups.

In a recent interview, PutinsaidMoscow wants to "eliminate the causes of this crisis, create conditions for long-term sustainable peace and ensure the security of the Russian state and the interests of our people" in former Ukrainian territories where people voted to join Russia following the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev.

Last week, Russian and Ukrainian representatives held their first direct talks since 2022, when Kiev backed out of a proposed peace deal that had been agreed in principle by both sides in Istanbul. The U-turn was influenced by the then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to Ukraine's lead negotiator David Arakhamia.

The latest round of Istanbul negotiations has led to a proposal for the largest prisoner exchange between the two countries and a pledge to continue dialogue.

Trump has claimed that he alone can broker peace between Russia and Ukraine and suggested that a breakthrough could come as early as this week, following his conversation with Putin.

(RT.com)