Russia accused Ukraine's leaders of disrupting the Istanbul negotiation process for a possible peaceful resolution of the conflict, DPA reported.
"The process is on pause due to the unwillingness of the Kiev regime to answer in any way the questions we raised," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television journalist Pavel Zarubin today, who is close to the Kremlin, DPA specified.
During the interview, Peskov said that the Ukrainians did not respond to a Russian draft proposal for the formation of three working groups.
"They are not responding to a draft document that was handed over to them, they are not responding to our proposal to create three specific working groups. All this is necessary to start the "homework" that needs to be written before a summit," Peskov specified, quoted by TASS.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, the Russian side is filled with optimism coming from the spirit of Anchorage. Peskov was referring to the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that took place in this city in the US state of Alaska on August 15.
No tangible results were achieved in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, DPA points out.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, Kiev is not contributing positively to the process, but Moscow hopes that Trump will maintain his political will for a peaceful solution.
Russia began its war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Delegations from Moscow and Kiev have met repeatedly since May of this year for direct negotiations in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul.
Several exchanges of prisoners of war and the bodies of killed servicemen have been agreed upon, but Russia refuses to withdraw its main demands, which is why a peace agreement is not in sight in the near future, DPA emphasizes.