If Russian President Vladimir Putin does not attend the talks in Istanbul on Thursday, which his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky plans to attend, it will be a "final signal" that Moscow does not want to end the war, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak said in a statement today, quoted by Agence France-Presse. BTA reported.
“I believe that if Vladimir Putin refuses to go to Turkey, it will be the final signal that Russia does not want to end this war, that it is not ready to negotiate“, Yermak said.
For its part, Germany today called on Russia to take a "decisive step" towards peace in Ukraine, two days before possible Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul, to which Ukrainian President Zelensky has invited his Russian counterpart Putin.
“Russia must take a decisive step forward and show that it is ready to sit at the negotiating table“, German Foreign Minister Johann Waddefull told journalists in Berlin.
“Ukraine has taken a decisive step forward and is ready to start unconditional talks on a ceasefire and a peace agreement“, he noted.