A Russian delegation will be in Istanbul tomorrow for possible direct negotiations with Ukraine, the Kremlin announced today, quoted by Reuters, but did not specify who Moscow's representatives will be.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Russia would reveal the composition of its delegation after President Vladimir Putin orders it.
Peskov stressed that Putin's proposal for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul tomorrow is still valid and that the Russian delegation will expect its Ukrainian colleagues to join them.
Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Leonid Slutsky, for his part, specified that the composition of the delegation would be made public tonight. He added that one of the topics of the talks could be the exchange of prisoners of war.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that Paris agreed to the deployment of French aircraft carrying nuclear warheads in other European countries. Moscow said that the spread of nuclear weapons would not increase the security of the continent.
"The Americans have bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey", Macron told Télévisions Télévisions 1 yesterday. "We are ready to start this discussion. I will define the framework in a very concrete way in the coming weeks and months," he added.
Peskov also said that Putin had received an invitation to visit Iran, but the dates for his trip had not yet been agreed.