Peskov: Negotiations with the US will not be easy. I have one piece of advice, listen carefully to Putin

The upcoming negotiations between Russia and the US on the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on Monday will not be easy, said in an interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on the "Russia-1" TV channel the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov. "We need to discuss President Putin's consent to the renewal of the so-called Black Sea Initiative, and again our negotiators will be ready to discuss the nuances of this issue, and there are a huge number of them. Earlier, when Antonio Guterres acted as the guarantor of the Black Sea deal, we fulfilled all our obligations, but the obligations to us were never fulfilled", Peskov pointed out. "Therefore, difficult negotiations are ahead". Peskov did not comment on whether the possible transfer of significant Ukrainian infrastructure under US control would be dangerous for Moscow. "We do not know what exactly Washington and Kiev are talking about. We heard a statement from Zelensky and representatives of the Kiev regime that they will not hand over anything to anyone. Kiev can promise a lot, but the price of its words is small." "The presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, agreed to continue contacts if necessary. The teams of the two countries also exchange information in a timely manner. In addition, contacts have been established between the teams. And this allows for a very rapid exchange of information on the most pressing issues. The potential for mutual cooperation between Russia and the United States is based on common sense. We may disagree on some things, but this does not mean that we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit. This is common sense." "Russia should proceed from the fact that the sanctions are for a long time and the country must develop precisely in these conditions. I have one piece of advice - listen carefully to Putin. What did Putin say when he spoke at the congress of entrepreneurs? Sanctions will not be lifted. Sanctions are here to stay. These are permanent measures to contain Russia. "We have become accustomed to them and have learned how to counteract them. And we must understand that we will have to continue to live like this. And we must continue to develop, no matter what." "Washington has radically changed its rhetoric with the arrival of the new US President Donald Trump and his team, and Moscow is much more impressed by the new approach. The new administration clearly has a different position than that taken by the previous Biden administration. We like this tone much more. The new US administration is talking about peace, about prospects for economic cooperation, which will benefit everyone. For them, of course, the most important thing is the benefit of America. And the new administration is talking about deals," the Kremlin spokesman said. "Instead of dealing with the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict, the increase in military spending and the idea of ​​deploying its troops in Ukraine, Europe is paradoxically trying to reinforce it with the contingent of NATO countries that may be deployed on the territory of Ukraine. It should be absolutely interested in peace. Now Europe is talking about war and how to militarize itself. Europeans are thinking about where to get 800 billion euros not for healthcare or infrastructure development, but for rearmament. And they should be interested in breaking down all the walls of obstacles with Russia and developing harmoniously on a mutually beneficial basis," the Kremlin representative emphasized. "The recent telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, definitely brought their one-on-one meeting closer. However, the presidents will discuss the prospects for their meeting in more detail when there are concrete developments, mutual understanding and agreements on the part of both sides. This was probably one of the longest conversations between two heads of state. The meeting between them must be carefully prepared, it first requires difficult technical negotiations. And on Monday our negotiators will leave for Riyadh to begin this difficult process. It is possible that there have been other contacts between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in recent months, in addition to the officially announced ones. We inform you about the conversations that we know about, but we cannot rule out anything else. The atmosphere of the telephone conversation on March 18 was absolutely trusting, frank, working and constructive.