Kremlin dismisses Germany's chatter about Ukraine peace talks

Unlike German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russia sees no basis for peace talks with Ukraine now, a top Kremlin official said on Monday.

Dmirty Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, flatly dismissed the suggestion Scholz made during an interview on Sunday that peace could end the conflict.

"As far as a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is concerned, no tangible contours have yet emerged," Peskov said in Moscow.

Russia has heard chatter and statements about negotiations from various European leaders, "but we are not hearing anything from the country that is steering this process, that is directing the collective West," Peskov said, referring to the United States.

All of Moscow's demands for an end to the war have so far boiled down to Ukraine ceding territory - and also granting Russia a great deal of control over the rest of Ukraine as well.

Ukrainian leaders have categorically ruled out those concessions, calling it tantamount to capitulation.

In recent weeks, President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for what he calls a "just peace."