Peskov said that Russia's interests regarding Ukraine can be secured both by military and peaceful means

Statement from the Kremlin

Russia's interests regarding Ukraine can be secured by peaceful means only if someone emerges in Kyiv who shows political will and takes on political responsibility. This was stated at a briefing by Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, reports Gazeta.Ru. According to him, the alternative to such a scenario remains 'the path of continuing the SVO' — thus the Kremlin formulated two possible courses of developments.

Context: Putin's position

Peskov's comment came after recent statements by Vladimir Putin. The Russian president said that a peaceful settlement in Ukraine must be reached as soon as possible and called for returning to substantive discussion of the initiatives proposed by Russia for building a new architecture of European and global security — in order to fix the terms on which peace can be achieved. In addition, Putin assessed Russia's role in the world: according to him, the world needs the country not only because of its territory, population, technological, defense and industrial potential, but also because of its mineral resources, since, he emphasized, without Russia the balance cannot be established.

What is known and what is not yet known

All the quoted statements are remarks by Russian officials reflecting the Kremlin's position; the publication contains no information about Kyiv's reaction or that of other parties and does not report any new negotiations or specific settlement terms. At the same time, Peskov's wording echoes Putin's statement about an early peace: both statements proceed from the premise that the terms of peace must be fixed in agreements, but Peskov tied the peaceful scenario to the emergence in Kyiv of a responsible political figure, without specifying whom he meant.