The Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said today that Moscow's goal in the talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is to achieve a complete victory, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
“The talks in Istanbul are needed not for a compromise peace based on unrealistic conditions invented by someone, but for our most immediate victory and the complete destruction of the neo-Nazi authorities. This is the meaning of the Russian memorandum, which was published yesterday“, said the former Russian president, quoted by TASS.
Medvedev is considered a hawk, Reuters notes. Among the demands in the Russian memorandum are the transfer of vast territories from Kiev, neutral status for Ukraine and a limitation on the size of the Ukrainian army, as well as holding new parliamentary and presidential elections, Reuters reports.
In the talks in Istanbul, which lasted just an hour, the two sides agreed on a new exchange of prisoners of war and the exchange of the bodies of 12,000 killed soldiers, but not on a ceasefire.
Medvedev added that in response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian airfields on Sunday, Moscow would seek retribution.
“Retribution is inevitable. It must be remembered: our army is actively advancing and will continue its advance. Everything that needs to be blown up will certainly be blown up, and those that need to be exterminated will disappear,“ the Russian politician wrote.