Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the first rounds of talks on Ukraine should take place in a trilateral format involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.

According to him, European representatives may also be at the table, but the process must begin in the trilateral format, given working-level contacts with the Americans. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Europeans must be at the table, but not with their current approach, which he said demands Russia’s defeat and rules out dialogue. Ushakov also said Putin would take a call from Zelensky and has never refused to talk, according to Interfax, in a G1 report.