Military operation may be completed after goals are achieved: Kremlin
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the region of Kherson still belongs to Russian territory, stressing that the decision to reposition troops was not humiliating.
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Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday Russia will not cease its special military operation in Ukraine until its goals are achieved.
"The Ukraine conflict — I would say in this case, a special military operation in Ukraine, from our point of view — can be completed after the goals are achieved," Peskov told reporters at a briefing.
He further added that the Kherson region is a subject of Russia and that the status of the region is legislatively fixed and defined.
"There are no and can be no changes," Peskov said, adding that Russia will continue to consider the Kherson region in its entirety as its own and will not amend the legal status of the territory on the western bank of the Dnipro river.
When asked whether he considered the withdrawal of troops from the Kherson region to be humiliating, Peskov answered, "No".
Earlier today, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Russia had completed the withdrawal of Russian troops from the southern city of Kherson to the eastern bank of Ukraine’s Dnipro River.
On November 9, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu agreed to implement the plan to withdraw the troops from the right bank of the Dnipro river, including the city of Kherson, and organize a defense on its left bank under the recommendations of the Commander of the Joint Russian Forces in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin.
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Peace talks with Ukraine
When asked whether the goals of Russia's special operation in Ukraine can be achieved through peaceful negotiations, Peskov said, "[Russia's special operation] can be completed by achieving the goals through peaceful negotiations, which is also possible. But peaceful negotiations, as we know, are now unavailable due to Ukraine's position," the Kremlin Spokesperson said.
So far, Russia hasn't seen any changes in Kiev's position on holding a dialogue with Moscow, adding that Kiev still does not want to hold negotiations, so "the special military operation continues," Peskov told reporters.
On November 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set five conditions for peace negotiations with Russia, which include restoration of territorial integrity, respect for the UN Charter, "compensation for all damages caused by the war," and guarantees that the conflict "will not happen again," among other things.
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Conditions set by president #Zelensky that he would be willing to negotiate with #Russia on.
— Russo Ukranian War Updates (@CaliJournalism) November 8, 2022
Restoration of territorial integrity
Respect for the UN
Compensation for all losses
Punishment of all war criminals
Assurances that this will never happen again pic.twitter.com/zNcgdHuGMp
The Russian leadership has previously stated several times that Moscow will always be open to hearing solutions that would help to defuse the situation.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova further reaffirmed Moscow had not refused to conduct talks.
'Megaphone Diplomacy' will hurt negotiations in prisoner swap
When asked to comment on Biden's 'Megaphone Diplomacy' concerning prisoner exchange, Peskov said, "There are existing channels, they should be discrete, the only way they can achieve some results. Megaphone diplomacy in this case undermines the effectiveness of these channels. We always take all propositions seriously. And our serious proposals in this regard are well known in Washington."
On Wednesday, the White House suggested trading US national Brittney Griner for former Soviet military translator Viktor Bout.
Biden said he is hopeful that Moscow will be more open to discussing prisoner exchange after the Congressional midterm elections are over.
Putin not to attend G20 and APEC summits
Peskov further said that Putin will not attend the G20 summit in Indonesia via video conference due to a tight schedule and also will not address the APEC summit participants in a video message.
When asked the reason why he will not attend both events, Peskov responded, "The decision of the president was connected with his tight schedule, and with the need for his presence in Russia."
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