The Kremlin said on Monday that efforts to reach an agreement to end the war in Ukraine were extremely complicated and that it would be wrong to expect quick solutions, Reuters and TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
“Of course, it would not be right to expect any immediate solutions or breakthroughs here“, said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. At the same time, he added that “work continues“.
The Kremlin's comments come after Russia told Ukraine at peace talks in Turkey on Wednesday that it would agree to end the fighting only if Kiev gives up much of its territory and accepts limits on the size of its army, Reuters notes. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected these demands.
Peskov also said that the agreements on the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of killed soldiers concluded during the talks in Istanbul would be implemented and that work on a possible settlement of the conflict would continue.
“Certain agreements were reached in Istanbul, which are important - indeed, first of all, people [must be protected by agreements]“, the Kremlin spokesman stressed. “These agreements will be implemented“, he added.
According to Peskov, Russia and the United States have not yet agreed on specific contacts in the future between President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump, but Putin is ready for high-level contacts if they are well prepared.
However, he indicated that a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the near future is unlikely. Such contacts should be the result of technical arrangements, Peskov said. “Honestly, in the near future it is unlikely”, the Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on the White House statement that Trump was open to such a trilateral meeting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russian President Vladimir Putin had received real-time information about the series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian air bases and that the investigation into the attacks was ongoing, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
"The president received information about the incident online. You know that an investigation is underway, which was opened by the Investigative Committee of Russia, and there was a corresponding statement from the Ministry of Defense. "I suggest you wait for the results of the investigation and focus on the content of the Russian Defense Ministry's statement," Peskov said.
Ukraine said it used drones to attack the bases, some of which are located thousands of kilometers across the Ukrainian-Russian border. Kiev claims that a total of 41 Russian aircraft were hit. Reuters notes that it could not confirm this number.