The US President's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg advised Kiev to ABC News not to make statements about refusing negotiations with Russia.
On the air of the ABC News channel, he was asked to comment on the statements of the Ukrainian side about its readiness to refuse a new round of negotiations with Moscow if Russia does not provide Kiev with a memorandum on the settlement of the conflict.
„I spoke with the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, who will lead the delegation to the next negotiations in Istanbul, he has not yet seen the Russian memorandum. But I always warn: “Don't say such things, you have to demonstrate that you are serious“, said Kellogg.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the second round of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, scheduled for June 2. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the head of the delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, will hand over to Ukraine a memorandum from Russia on all aspects of overcoming the root causes of the crisis.
Kellogg also said that representatives of the United States, Germany, France and Britain will be in Istanbul on June 2, when it is possible to hold a meeting of delegations from Russia and Ukraine.
“When we arrive in Istanbul next week, we will sit down at the negotiating table and discuss what this should look like. And the national security advisers from Germany, France and Britain will be with us. When we were in London, they were the ones who helped us formulate the conditions for Ukraine. "They will also be there and express their opinion," he said, without specifying whether Western representatives would take part directly in the meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
The previous round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine was held on May 16 and ended with agreements on the exchange of prisoners of war under the formula "1000 for 1000" and the presentation of his vision for a possible future ceasefire. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting.