Russian President Vladimir Putin open to peace talks with US President Joe Biden at G20 summit

Moscow opens the door to talks with Washington in Bali next month amid claims that Elon Musk spoke with Putin before tweeting his plan to end conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and his US counterpart Joe Biden. Pictures: File

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not turn down the chance for peace talks between President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden at next month’s G20 meeting in Bali.

Mr Lavrov said Russia remained open to talks with the United States, or with Turkey, but added: “We have not received any serious offers to make contact.”

He said Russia was willing to listen to any suggestions regarding talks, but that he could not say in advance what this process would lead to.

Mr Putin could meet with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan when they both visit Kazakhstan this week.

Indonesian diplomats have confirmed that both the Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Putin have agreed to attend the G20 meeting next month in Bali, causing logistics issues to ensure the delegations from the two countries are kept apart. However it won’t be until the very last minute that either party confirms their attendance.

While Russia is a member of the G20, Indonesia president Joko Widodo had earlier this year invited Mr Zelensky to the G20 as a compromise to appease some countries who had objected to Russia’s participation because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky said after Russia’s missile blitz that he had ruled out having any talks with Mr Putin, although it may be possible with another Russian leader.

He said only one person was blocking peace “and he is in Moscow”.

Meanwhile, a report has alleged that Elon Musk spoke directly with Mr Putin before he tweeted a recent plan to end the Ukraine conflict by having some territory ceded to Russia.

Vice journalist Ian Bremmer wrote that Mr Putin was prepared to negotiate a deal but only if Crimea remained Russian, if Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality, and Ukraine recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

According to Mr Bremmer, Mr Putin had told Mr Musk that the goals would be accomplished “no matter what”. That included the potential of a nuclear strike if Ukraine invaded Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Mr Musk said “everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome”.

Mr Musk had assisted Ukraine during the war when he used his Starlink internet terminals to keep the country, and the military, online.

But according to Mr Bremmer, Mr Musk told him he had refused a Ukraine request to activate Starlink in Crimea.

This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2022

Mr Musk has since denied the phone call allegation on Twitter, saying he only spoke to Mr Putin 18 months ago “about space”.

On Tuesday, British spy chief Sir Jeremy Fleming said there were no guarantees that the intelligence community would be able to spot Russia preparing a nuclear attack.

GCHQ director Sir Jeremy Fleming told the RUSI security conference: “Russia is the only nation talking about using nuclear weapons and I have to say that it is extremely dangerous to do so.

“I would like to think that with our allies that we would have a good chance of spotting it but of course there are never any guarantees in this space.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO was “closely monitoring” Russia’s nuclear forces.

A meeting of the G7 on Tuesday condemned Monday’s missile attacks, saying indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constituted a war crime.

For the full G7 Leaders Statement see https://t.co/cxBaKDJ10Wpic.twitter.com/eqX7noOz94

— G7 GER (@G7) October 11, 2022

The G7 vowed to continue providing military and financial support to Ukraine.

However, missile attacks continued on Tuesday with the Ukraine air force reporting that Russia fired 28 cruise missiles of which 20 had been intercepted. Another 13 drones had also been downed, it said.