Russia sets conditions for European entry into Ukraine peace talks

Russia has not committed to including European countries in Ukraine peace negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, pushing back against U.S. statements that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to their participation.

Peskov said a decision on an expanded format would come only "once we understand their genuine intention and readiness to contribute to the peace process."

The talks so far have involved Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. officials, who met in Abu Dhabi this week for the first time in nine months. Two U.S. envoys then flew to Moscow to meet Putin before travelling to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Putin said on Thursday the United States must work with its European allies to determine whether they wanted peace or war in Ukraine. Peskov said Moscow would be open to some form of preliminary contacts with Europe before any formal participation in negotiations, but that no concrete discussions had taken place.

Asked whether French President Emmanuel Macron could serve as an interlocutor, Peskov said reports were naming "completely different candidates every hour" and that Moscow could not say anything specific. He declined to comment on EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas as a potential EU representative.

Kallas said on Friday it was not Russia's place to decide who should represent the EU. According to Kallas, Russia opposed having "anybody strong on the other side" because they wanted to "push through their maximum demands."

Russia says it is seeking a full peace settlement rather than a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this week Moscow wants to negotiate a broad European security framework before addressing the specifics of the war. Russian and Ukrainian officials said some progress was made in Abu Dhabi but reported no breakthrough on territory.