Russia to Continue Special Op Until it Attains its Goal, Kremlin Spokesman Insists

The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation commented on the plan presented by China to resolve the situation in Ukraine

MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. It is currently impossible to discuss ways out in Ukraine, and the special military operation will continue until the goals are attained, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Izvestia.

Commenting on the Ukraine peace plan put forward by China, Peskov said, "The current developments, primarily, of course, in Kiev, have so far prevented us from expecting that the environment will be ripe for us to discuss the nuances. Therefore, the special military operation will continue until the goal is attained."

According to the Russian presidential spokesman, around half of the Chinese peace plan "echoes the initiatives which Moscow had put forward to the West and which were ignored."

"China is a huge and powerful country whose interests cannot be ignored by any international player," Peskov emphasized. "China is a country whose voice can somehow be heard in all international affairs and issues. Certainly, that voice should have made itself heard to outline their attitude to the Ukrainian crisis. And so this happened. China did voice its stance," he concluded.

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry published a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, among other things calling for a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Kiev, and steps to stop unilateral sanctions. Beijing stressed that dialogue and negotiations were "the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis" and called on all sides to support Moscow and Kiev in "working in the same direction" and in resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible.

`A bit to early’ to discuss Putin’s running for presidency in 2024 – Kremlin spokesman

The press secretary of the President of Russia said that the prospects for their holding were called into question in the context of a special military operation

MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet said whether he will be running for president in 2024, and it is too early to discuss such a possibility, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Izvestia.

When asked if Putin has already decided to run for reelection, Peskov said, "So far, there are no election campaign moods - Putin has much work to do. <…> We haven’t heard any announcements from him as to whether he would or would not run for the presidency. Hence, it is a bit too early yet. We just have to be patient."

However, Peskov said, "a decision has been made to hold the election anyway," even though the possibility of holding polls - the [regional] ones in September to be followed by the presidential election - was questioned" amid the special op.

"By the end or the middle of the second half of the year, we will somehow be entering the electoral season," Peskov announced.