The Kremlin announced, on Wednesday, that the Russian delegation is ready to resume peace talks with Ukraine. “Our delegation will be ready to continue the talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that the delegation expects to resume talks on Wednesday evening.
Peskov stated that his country’s delegation would be “ready for negotiations on Wednesday evening,” without revealing the location of the negotiations or any other details.
Later, the TASS news agency quoted the Ukrainian presidency as saying: “We will hold a second round of talks with Russia today.”
“We are ready for talks, but not ready to accept Russian dictates,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
He explained that “the Russian demands have not changed from what was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin before the start of the war.”
This came after conflicting reports about the resumption of the second round of negotiations. The TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as accusing Ukraine of delaying negotiations because of Washington.
Earlier today, a Russian source denied reports of canceling the negotiations with Ukraine, stressing that the date of the second round of negotiations has not yet been set, quoting the TASS news agency.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian president’s adviser said that setting the date for negotiations with Russia requires discussions and a clear agenda, and there is a need to “agree on the agenda of the negotiations before resuming them,” while the Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced “the completion of final preparations for holding negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.”
Earlier, observers suggested that the second round of negotiations, which was scheduled for Wednesday between the Russian and Ukrainian parties, may falter after the emergence of positions from the Ukrainian leadership that reduced the possibility of achieving results.
In this context, the Turkish presidential spokesman suggested that the Ukrainian and Russian delegations would not meet in the scheduled talks today, and expected them to be postponed for two days, adding that Moscow’s demands to end Military operation in Ukraine Unrealistic, he said that Ankara is in contact with the negotiating teams.
Close Russian military operation in UkraineToday, Wednesday, is its seventh day, while matters are escalating on the ground despite Western pressure on Moscow, through painful economic sanctions, the last of which came from Washington, where America completely closes its airspace to Russian aviation today.
In this regard, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the negotiations did not produce the desired results for Kyiv.
For his part, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister made it clear that his country is ready for a new round of negotiations with Russia, stressing at the same time that negotiations with Moscow will not take place in light of warnings.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also added that Kyiv is asking NATO to support it in its confrontation with Russia, but it does not call on the alliance to fight on its soil instead.
Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that it was premature to talk about a meeting between the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart.