The Kremlin confirmed that the Russian authorities had received certain “signals” from European countries regarding their desire to participate in peace negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine. However, they stated that Moscow considers this “inexpedient.”
This was stated at a briefing by Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
According to him, “there were signals from the Europeans” regarding their “place at the negotiating table” on the topic of resolving the “conflict in Ukraine,” which Moscow does not consider “necessary and appropriate.”
On March 15, the Financial Times, citing a European diplomat, reported that in February, an aide to the Russian leader, Yuri Ushakov, rudely rebuffed French representatives who had come to the Russian capital to try to convince the Kremlin to allow European countries to participate in peace talks.
At the same time, in a comment to the publication, Peskov stated that Europe “does not want to help the peace process.” In his opinion, the Europeans “are spending all their efforts on convincing the Ukrainians to continue the war,” while the Russian Federation is “confident that it is winning.” He also added that the “dynamics on the front” for the Russian military are “positive.”
Back in December 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron said that European countries should engage in dialogue with Putin. His Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb, speaking at the London think tank Chatham House on March 17, 2026, also said that European states would have to open channels of political dialogue with Russia.