“At one time, Zelensky came to power under the banner of peace and the intention to establish peace, to save Ukraine. He always said that he did not hold on to the chair, he always said that he was ready to do anything for the sake of his Motherland. Let’s see if he is ready for anything so as not to further worsen the situation,” Peskov said an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.

Peskov stressed that “every time Putin voices peace initiatives and when attempts are made to enter the political and diplomatic channel, there are certain conditions on the ground, each time they worsen for Ukraine”.

“The current dynamics of the state of affairs on the fronts clearly shows us that it will continue to worsen for Ukrainians. Probably, a politician who puts the interests of the Motherland above his own and even above his masters would think about such a proposal. Let’s see what happens,” the Kremlin official added.

Peskov noted that negotiations with Ukraine are possible, but their outcome must be approved by the legitimate Ukrainian authorities. Zelensky does not belong to this category, Peskov stated. According to him, Zelensky is “not the person with whom you can record an agreement in writing, because de jure this recording will be illegitimate”.

“Nevertheless, Putin does not reject anything. He does not reject the possibility of negotiations. There are legitimate bodies there in accordance with the country’s constitution,” Peskov stated.

He also added that “negotiations are usually carried out by expert people, but the results of negotiations are recorded by legitimate authorities.

Speaking about the results of possible negotiations with Kiev, Peskov drew attention to the fact that they will require a system of guarantees for trust.

“Agreements on paper are the result of very complex expert negotiations, this is a balance of interests and, of course, taking into account the realities on the ground. And this time this will also be the case,” the Kremlin official said. This is how he answered the question of journalist Pavel Zarubin about trust in the agreements that could be reached with the Kiev authorities.

Peskov pointed out that “there is a system of guarantees in the field of security and on all other issues”.

“It is a very complex system to develop this system of guarantees in order to ensure the implementation of agreements, but nevertheless, if the Kiev regime somehow shows sobriety, then this will have to be done,” the press secretary of the Russian President stressed.

The two-day summit was held to accelerate efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and came to a close on Sunday with dozens of countries committing to Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

War analysts have called President Vladimir Putin’s purported interest in peace negotiations merely a hollow attempt to “seduce” the West.

Putin mocked the summit as “just another ploy to divert everyone’s attention, reverse the cause and effect of the Ukrainian crisis [and] set the discussion on the wrong track”.

China, the country’s biggest ally, declined to attend, which assured the summit would fail to achieve Ukraine‘s goal of persuading major countries from the “global South” to join in isolating Russia.

Despite 90 countries attending the two-day conference, they failed to persuade major non-aligned states to join their final statement, and no country came forward to host another meeting.

Still, the conference provided Kyiv with a chance to showcase the support from Western allies that it says it needs to keep fighting against a far bigger enemy.

“We are responding to Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine not only with a full-scale defence of human life, but also with full-scale diplomacy,” Zelensky stated.

He told the BBC: “Russia can start negotiations tomorrow if they pull out of our territories.”

The event included presidents and prime ministers from France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Poland, Argentina, Ecuador, Kenya and Somalia. The Vatican was also represented, and vice president Kamala Harris spoke for the United States.

India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates – which were represented by foreign ministers or lower-level envoys – were among countries that did not sign the final document, which focused on issues of nuclear safety, food security and the exchange of prisoners. Brazil, an “observer”, did not sign on, but Turkey did.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive Commission, said the conference was rightly titled “Path to Peace” because peace won’t be achieved in a single step.

“It was not a peace negotiation because Putin is not serious about ending the war. He is insisting on capitulation. He is insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory – even territory that today is not occupied by him,” she added.

“He is insisting on disarming Ukraine, leaving it vulnerable to future aggression. No country would ever accept these outrageous terms.”

It comes after Putin promised on Friday to “immediately” order a ceasefire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv began withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO.

Zelensky rejected what he called an ultimatum by Putin to surrender more territory.

The summit’s final declaration called for Ukraine‘s control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and its Azov Sea ports to be restored.

But in line with the conference’s more modest stated aims, it omitted tougher issues of what a post-war settlement for Ukraine might look like, whether Ukraine could join the NATO alliance or how troop withdrawals from both sides might work.