Putin ready for settlement with Ukraine but needs to achieve goals

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said, Russia is ready to move quickly towards a settlement on Ukraine, but the main objective is to achieve its goals. Peskov told state television in an interview that President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible.    Russian officials have said repeatedly that any peace deal hinges on Ukraine withdrawing forces from four regions, renouncing its NATO bid and halting NATO troop deployments. Putin has repeatedly said he does not see Zelenskiy as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when his five-year mandate expired last year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his officials have proposed holding a new round of peace talks with Moscow this week. On July 14, US President Donald Trump said, the United States will send weapons to Ukraine through NATO, and threatened severe tariffs targeting Russia if a ceasefire deal is not reached in 50 days. Russia rejected Trump’s 50-day ultimatum, dismissing the threat as unacceptable.Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and June 2, that led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But the two sides have made no breakthrough towards a ceasefire or a settlement to end almost three and a half years of war.