Moscow assures that the dialogue is "far from exhausted" despite the escalation of tension in Ukraine

All the lights were on the Russian Parliament, which jumped on the scene this Monday with its request to the president to recognize the independence of eastern Ukraine.

However, it was Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, who staged a brief exchange of words minutes before the debate that snatched all the prominence in the drama that is being written these months in Eastern Europe.

"Is there an opportunity to reach an agreement with our partners on the key issues that concern us or is it just an attempt to drag us into an endless negotiation process?" the Russian president began.

Lavrov admitted that negotiations are taking time, but he opened the door for optimism.

"Still, as head of the foreign ministry, I have to say that there is always an opportunity."

Putin held two brief televised meetings on Monday with Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Despite the ultimatums launched from Moscow in recent months about a countdown that was running out, the head of Russian diplomacy was emphatic in stating that there is still room for dialogue.

“I have the impression that our chances are far from exhausted.

Of course, they should not be continued indefinitely, but at this stage I suggest prolonging and intensifying them,” Lavrov told the president, both separated by another huge table, as happened a week earlier with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Kremlin has already prepared its response to the responses offered by the United States and NATO to its demands for security guarantees for Russia.

Lavrov confirmed that the document is finished and its length is “about 10 pages”.

Shoigu reviewed the massive exercises that Russian troops are carrying out with Ukraine, both in the south of the country and in its ally Belarus.

The Defense Minister indicated that part of the maneuvers will end soon, although he did not go into more detail about the return home or not of the troops.

These meetings have taken place just before the State Duma addressed a new measure of pressure on Kiev.

Parliament was scheduled to debate this Monday a bill presented in January by the Communist Party to ask the president to recognize the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

However, Putin's formation, United Russia, has presented another draft for the initiative to be scrutinized before by Lavrov.

The speaker of the lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced that the two texts will be put to the vote on Tuesday.

Until now, Moscow has advocated that the region be inside Ukraine with a special status, as it appeared in the peace agreements signed seven years ago.

The Minsk protocols were first sealed by Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE in September 2014, when the Ukrainian army offensive put the separatists on the ropes, and revised again in February 2015 after a successful counteroffensive by the militias. with Russian support.

Moscow demands that Kiev dialogue with the authorities of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk to agree on the holding of local elections, as stated in point 12 of the protocols.

In addition, the Kremlin urges the Ukrainian government to reform the Constitution and give Donbas a special status, an issue that should have been resolved in 2015, according to point 11. However, Kiev in turn demands that Russia fulfill other key commitments, points 9 and 10: the return to Ukraine of control of the border between the separatist zone and Russia and the withdrawal of all armed formations and military equipment from the region.

Ukrainian troop movement

Putin's spokesman denounced on Monday "a significant aggravation of the situation" due to the movement of troops "of the Ukrainian armed forces and units of a different nature" along the Donbas contact line and the border with Russia.

Dmitri Peskov stressed that these deployments are no less important than those carried out by the Russian armed forces on its territory and Belarus.

With tension at maximum in the east of the continent, the Kremlin welcomed the interview granted to the BCC by the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko, who stated that his country could reconsider joining NATO, one of the red lines of the Kremlin.

"We could.

Especially being threatened in this way, blackmailed for it and pushed to do it,” the diplomat said.

His words were refuted by the spokesman for the President of Ukraine, Sergiy Nikiforov, who responded publicly that this step back has not been considered in any way because the desire to join the Atlantic Alliance is contained in the Constitution itself.

However, Putin's spokesman did not miss the opportunity to bring to the fore one of Moscow's main demands.

"This would undoubtedly be a step that would contribute significantly to giving a more significant response to Russian concerns," stressed the Kremlin representative, although he considered it "unlikely" that this idea will have more travel on the part of Kiev.

Peskov also spoke about the imminent visit to Moscow of the German Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

The German leader will meet with Zelensky this Monday in Kiev and with Putin on Tuesday in Moscow.

In this last meeting they will not only address the entire crisis surrounding Ukraine and the search for a new security system with Russia, but also the paralysis of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, whose works concluded in January, but have not yet received the go-ahead of Brussels to operate due to the fact that its management belongs to the Russian state monopoly Gazprom and the risk that it becomes an instrument of pressure from the Kremlin.

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