Russia is interested in ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible and would prefer to achieve a settlement through peaceful means, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing ahead of the BRICS summit.

Peskov said Russia was trying to stop a war that, in Moscow’s view, had begun earlier and had not been started by the Russian side.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Russia remains open to negotiations and hopes that trilateral talks involving Russia, the United States and Ukraine will resume. At the same time, he argued that Kyiv has shown insufficient flexibility in the negotiating process.

Peskov also gave a positive assessment of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to find a way out of the conflict. He said Moscow welcomes any initiative that could contribute to reaching an agreement.

The Kremlin representative stressed that Russia intends to achieve the goals of the special military operation, but would prefer to do so through peaceful means.

Addressing the causes of the conflict, Peskov said Western countries had gradually turned Ukraine into a center directed against Russia. He also linked the outbreak of the military confrontation to the rise of nationalist forces in Ukraine and what he described as pressure on Russians and Russian-speaking residents of the country.

Peskov placed responsibility for the continuation of hostilities on Kyiv. He said the special military operation could have ended much earlier if the Ukrainian authorities had shown a genuine desire to stop the conflict.

The Kremlin spokesman also said anti-Russian sanctions are part of the agenda in peace negotiations, although they are not considered the main issue.