2026-08-21± mixed
Russia remains ready for dialogue and to hear reasonable proposals, but only on the basis of the realities that have developed on the ground and in line with the goals set by its president — and the proposals now being conveyed to it are, in Putin's words, "exotic in nature and are unacceptable".
The condition is real and consistently stated — Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov used the same formula a day before Putin did. The readiness is not borne out: Moscow has rejected every Ukrainian, European and US proposal put to it, and still requires full Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas. Putin declined to say what "exotic" referred to, calling the exchanges a probing, so the rejection cannot be checked against any named proposal.