Russia said that Ukraine has not responded to the peace talks.The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine has not responded to the report on participating in the peace talks in Istanbul next Monday.
Russian authorities also said that they are waiting to know whether Ukraine will participate in the peace talks.
On the other hand, Kiev has demanded that Moscow send its terms for a peace agreement before sitting down for talks.
Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have gained some momentum in recent months. However, Moscow has rejected calls for a temporary ceasefire and continues to attack Ukraine one after another.
Moscow has offered Ukraine a second round of direct talks in Istanbul on June 2. There, it wants to present a ‘memorandum’ outlining the terms of a long-term peace.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has said that they must be given a copy of the memorandum before the talks. Otherwise, they will not sit down for talks. However, the Kremlin has rejected their offer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “As far as I know, there has been no response yet. We have to wait for the consent of the Ukrainian counterpart.”
He called Kiev’s demand for Russia to send its peace terms in advance “non-constructive.”
Ukraine said it had already submitted its peace terms to Russia and asked Moscow to also communicate its terms.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Russia and Ukraine not to “close the door” to dialogue before the expected meeting in Istanbul.
Earlier, on May 16, Russian and Ukrainian delegations held direct talks in Istanbul for the first time. There was little progress in those talks. However, both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, their largest exchange of prisoners of war since the conflict began. Source: Al Jazeera