The Kremlin on July 24 said Kyiv's recent comments on possible peace talks "can be said to be in unison with our position" even though more details are needed, while Ukraine made clear it remains skeptical of Russia's ability to "act in good faith."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is in China where the topic of how to end Russia's full-scale war has been top of the agenda.
"Kuleba restated .. that (Kyiv) is ready to engage the Russian side in the negotiation process at a certain stage, when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith, but emphasized that no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on July 24.
In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia "has never refused negotiations," adding Kuleba's statement was "in unison with our position."
"But details that we do not yet know are important here. Therefore, we need to wait for some clarification on this issue."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukraine must fully withdraw from four partially occupied oblasts that Moscow illegally annexed in 2022. Kyiv rejected this demand.
In turn, the Kremlin has rejected Ukraine's key condition in the peace formula on the full withdrawal of Russian forces.
Kuleba's trip to China is his first since the outbreak of the full-scale war. He and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi previously met in February at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
China has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war but has simultaneously deepened economic ties with Moscow and backed the country against Western sanctions. It has also shaped up to be Russia's leading source of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry.
Kyiv has repeatedly appealed to China to use its sway over Moscow to help bring an end to the war, but these efforts have been largely unsuccessful as the East Asian country snubbed the June global peace summit in Switzerland.
President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted China over supposedly trying to sabotage the summit efforts, drawing a rebuke from Beijing.
China proposed its own alternative peace plan, which would include a conference recognized by both Kyiv and Moscow.
Ukraine's Ambassador to Singapore, Kateryna Zelenko, said in June that Kyiv would consider attending if the talks are based on the principles of the "U.N. Charter and international law."
Chris York
