Russia Denies Role in Ukraine Peace Talks: Peskov

On Thursday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is not involved in any ongoing talks about potential peace initiatives in Ukraine, but is monitoring such details.

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Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned that several countries including Ukraine have been holding discussions at the level of security advisors on initiatives that could potentially lead to a peace process in the Ukraine crisis.

"All of these countries are united in their political will to support Ukraine to the extent possible until the very end," Peskov said, adding the Kremlin is monitoring all of these nuances carefully.

He pointed out that the approach of provoking and encouraging Kiev to "fight until the last Ukrainian" dominates in Europe and nothing has changed despite different points of view, with different nuances, in the European political establishment.

Despite the peace plan talks, Germany is pretty involved in the crisis, the Kremlin spokesman said, adding that Russia sees that French President Emmanuel Macron has taken the most radical position in the crisis, recalling his proposal to send foreign military contingents to Ukraine in February.

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin warned that if F-16 fighters given to Ukraine are used from third-party territories, they'll be legitimate targets for Russia, no matter where they are.

"If they are used from airfields of third countries, they become a legitimate target for us, no matter where they are," he said during a conversation with military pilots in the Tver region.

Ukraine has long been asking its partners to transfer F-16 fighters to it. However, the West emphasizes the impossibility of supplying Kiev with such aircraft without proper preliminary training of pilots and ground service personnel. Denmark, the Netherlands, the U.S. and other Western countries are currently actively involved in training Ukrainian pilots.

However, Kiev's partners note that the importance of the F-16 should not be overestimated. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said these fighters alone will not be able to fundamentally change the situation in the combat zone, although they will partially strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian troops.