The President of Russia Vladimir Putin began a meeting with the government in a videoconference format on the topic of negotiations with Ukraine, TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
A report on this issue was presented by the head of the Russian delegation, the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky.
Medinsky noted that at the meeting in Istanbul, the delegation he led conveyed to Ukraine the position of President Vladimir Putin that a meeting of the heads of state is possible with appropriate preparation.
"We conveyed your position that a meeting at the level of heads of state is possible, but it needs to be discussed in detail, since the heads of state should not discuss the details of the agreement, but approve them, i.e. to make final decisions on previously prepared and agreed projects“, he said.
He added: "We have unilaterally proposed to hand over to Kiev over 6 thousand bodies of deceased servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To hand them over by special machines, in refrigerated wagons, where they are stored. We are ready to start doing it in the coming days. We understand that there may be our bodies with them too. Probably, there are much, much fewer of them. We have expressed readiness to accept them, if there are any.
Medinsky noted what Ukraine proposed at the negotiations in Istanbul: "In general, during the negotiations they confirmed their positions, which boil down to two points. The first - to start with a 30- or 60-day unconditional ceasefire. The second point is to use this ceasefire to prepare for the summit of heads of state."
Russia should not succumb to Ukraine's criminal provocations and should use negotiations and all means to achieve the goals of the military operation in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Reuters reported.
After Lavrov's statement, President Vladimir Putin said: "I agree with this."
The Russian Foreign Minister also described the contacts with Ukraine in Istanbul as important and useful, adding that the process of direct negotiations is working and is yielding concrete results, TASS reported. Volodymyr Zelensky categorically rejected the proposal for a two- or three-day truce to collect the bodies of the fallen servicemen along the line of contact, Lavrov also noted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian attacks on bridges in Russia were terrorist attacks, Reuters reported.
According to him, the attacks on bridges in the Bryansk and Kursk regions were terrorist actions aimed at derailing peace talks.
"They want a high-level meeting. But how can such meetings take place under these conditions? What are we going to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?“, Putin pointed out.
Meanwhile, the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, announced during a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with members of the government that the damage from the three attacks in the Kursk and Bryansk regions amounted to more than one billion rubles, TASS reported.
Bastrykin added that the bomb control devices used in the explosions were manufactured in Ukraine, and the explosives were of foreign manufacture.