 Moscow willing to conduct peace talks with Kiev in Western venue Russia is prepared to engage in talks with Ukraine Including at a venue in a Western country a highly placed source told Izvestia However, the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that neither Ukraine nor its Western allies have been willing to negotiate with Russia Rodion Miroshnik the Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy for the crimes of the Kiev regime told Izvestia that Kiev had been striving to assiduously follow Western directives to fight to the last Ukrainian Certainly mediation is only a tool for organizing Negotiations the key question remains who on that side is ready to conduct talks the diplomat said as for NATO certain North Atlantic Alliance member states could conceivably step in to host talks or act as a mediator said Bogdan Bezpalko a member of the Russian Presidential Council for inter-ethnic relations However, those countries that are members of neither the European Union nor NATO Stand a better chance in any scenario of being accepted as a mediator by all parties He added although Hungary and perhaps even Slovakia could mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine from the point of view of modern International relations It would make more sense to insist that a neutral country say India took on that role Bezpalko emphasized India at least carries some serious weight in international politics and has been neutral regarding the Ukraine crisis and New Delhi maintains relations with both Russia and the West he noted Finally a Middle Eastern country or even a former Soviet Republic for example Uzbekistan could potentially serve as a mediator for Achieving a peace settlement to the conflict Bezpalko concluded