There are currently no prerequisites for settling the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine by peaceful means, "so far, some outlines have not actually been traced," presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We hear various statements from European countries, but we do not see any statements on this matter from the country that is actually conducting this entire process, conducting the entire collective West," he said (quoted by TASS).

This is how Peskov responded to a request to comment on the words of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the right moment has come to "discuss how to quickly get out of this military situation and achieve peace." Scholz believes that the second peace conference on Ukraine should be held with the participation of Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shares this opinion.

The first "peace summit" was held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on June 15-16, and was attended by representatives of more than 90 countries, but Russia was not invited. The final communiqué included three points of Zelensky's "peace formula" - on nuclear and food security and the exchange of prisoners according to the "all for all" formula. The Russian authorities consider the conditions put forward by Ukraine unacceptable, and among their own they name the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, recognition of these regions as Russian at the international level, as well as the lifting of Western sanctions. Moscow rules out the possibility of participating in the second "peace summit".

As for peace talks, the Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that they are ready for them, but after the attack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Kursk region, President Vladimir Putin said that he considers dialogue futile. On September 2, he expressed confidence that the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation would fail, after which Ukraine would want to move on to negotiations. According to Putin, Russia has never refused to resolve issues by peaceful means, "but, of course, we must deal with these bandits" who have penetrated the territory of the region.