The Kremlin has said the idea that Russia will join peace talks with Ukraine in 2024 on Kiev’s terms is unrealistic.

In particular, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov characterized the idea “absolutely unrealistic”responding to a media report that Washington favored such a scenario, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement today that he will run for president in 2024, the TASS news agency reported earlier – a move that will keep him in power until at least 2030.

The 71-year-old Putin, who took over as Russia’s president from Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already served as president longer than any other ruler of the country since Joseph Stalin, even surpassing Leonid Brezhnev’s 18-year tenure.

The agency reported that Putin made the announcement inside the Kremlin after awarding the country’s highest military decoration — the Gold Star of the Hero of Russia — to soldiers who fought in Ukraine.