Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia expects the date for the third round of talks with Ukraine to be agreed next week, Reuters reported. BTA reported.
Kremlin adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the Russian delegation, is in contact with his Ukrainian counterpart, Peskov said. He added that Russia will continue to fight in Ukraine to achieve its goals, but would prefer a diplomatic solution.
Peskov also took a position on the war between Israel and Iran. According to him, the Middle East is sinking into the "abyss of instability and war", Moscow is disturbed by the events and is still ready to mediate if necessary.
Russia, which has close ties with Iran and also maintains close ties with Israel, has urged the United States not to strike Iran, but to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Tehran's nuclear program, Reuters recalls.
Asked today whether Russia had any red lines when it came to the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that countries in the region should have their own red lines.
"The region is sinking into the abyss of instability and war," Peskov said. Moscow sees that Israel wants to continue its military actions against Iran for now, but Russia has open channels of communication with Israel and the United States, Peskov added.
In addition, Peskov said he could not predict whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet with US President Donald Trump this year.
"I would not undertake to make predictions. We now live in such a turbulent and unpredictable world that it is difficult to predict what will happen next week. And you want me to predict something by the end of the year," he told reporters, TASS reported.
The Kremlin spokesman told reporters that Russia hopes to soon agree with the United States on a new round of talks to eliminate "irritants" in bilateral relations.
"Among American diplomats there is an opinion that it is necessary to directly link the process of resolving this huge number of irritants with the process of resolving Ukrainian issues", the Kremlin spokesman said, TASS reported. "On the contrary, we believe that the establishment of relations, getting rid of irritants, will contribute to a speedy settlement", he stressed.
Peskov refrained from answering whether the Russian president would go to the Group of Twenty (G-20) summit in the Republic of South Africa (RSA).
"We will announce it in due course. But in any case, Russia will be represented at this meeting and will take an active part," TASS reported the Kremlin spokesman's response.