Abandoned in 2022 peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine can be the basis for new negotiations, but there is no signal that Kiev is ready for this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of reaching an agreement to end hostilities at talks in Istanbul in April 2022, but that Ukraine pulled out of the talks after Russian troops were withdrew from the areas near Kiev.
The deal reportedly included clauses that required Ukraine to remain neutral and not join NATO, limit the size of its armed forces and give special status to eastern Ukraine – all things that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not agree with.
In remarks on Thursday, Putin once again raised the issue of potential peace talks and said he was ready for realistic talks. At the same time, he opposed a peace conference that will take place in June in Switzerland at the request of Ukraine, pointing out that it would be meaningless if Russia did not participate.
According to Putin, the conference does not take into account the new realities, including the annexation of new Ukrainian territories by Moscow.
Zelensky, who met with students in western Ukraine on Friday, appeared to rule out an option for the 2022 talks to serve as a basis for future talks. Zelensky said that the meetings then (in Istanbul) were not real negotiations.
Asked if the 2022 talks in Belarus and Turkey had the potential to stop the war, Zelensky replied: “No”.
„Negotiations are when two parties want to reach an agreement. But when one side, regardless of whether it is a country or a city, gives you an ultimatum, this is not a negotiation," Zelensky said in a video message published on his website.
A senior Ukrainian official acknowledged that the two sides were close to an agreement in Turkey in 2022, but said that Kiev did not accept the offer because it did not trust the Russian side to honor any agreement .
Putin's spokesman – Dmitry Peskov, said many things have changed since 2022, including the expansion of Russian territory by four new regions, referring to the parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims as its own, Reuters noted.
According to Peskov, the abandoned Istanbul agreement can still serve as a basis for talks, and Russia is ready for it. Asked if the Russian side felt any readiness on the Ukrainian side, Peskov answered: “No”.
Ukraine says it wants all of its territories back, including Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Kiev is demanding that all Russian troops leave its territory.