Flags of Russia and Ukraine. File photoMOSCOW, May 18.Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are not moving forward, Moscow states the complete lack of desire of Kyiv to continue this process, said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov. When asked by journalists about whether negotiations can be resumed after the complete surrender of all Ukrainian military who are on the territory of the plant Azovstal, Peskov replied that these processes are unlikely to be interconnected.Kyiv has actually withdrawn from the negotiation process, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “I don’t think that these are highly interconnected processes. The negotiations are really not moving forward, and we really state the complete lack of desire among the Ukrainian negotiators to continue this process,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on 24 February. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbas. .jpg» />Lavrov said that the Ukrainian negotiators are «led» by Washington and London. Russian-Ukrainian consultations began at the end of February: the delegations held two face-to-face meetings in Belarus, after which it was decided to continue them on a daily basis via video conference. At the end of March, the delegations held another round of talks in Istanbul. As a result, the head of the Russian delegation at the talks, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, said that Ukraine had submitted its written proposals for a future treaty, which Moscow considers a step forward, and in general, Kyiv for the first time in many years showed a desire to negotiate. The Russian side in response made two step towards Ukraine. First, it was decided to significantly reduce hostilities in the Kiev and Chernigov directions. Secondly, Moscow suggested that the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky should take place simultaneously with the initialing of the treaty by the foreign ministers. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said that Ukraine was refusing its own proposals and creating numerous provocations in order to slow down the negotiation process. In particular, according to the minister, Ukraine presented its draft agreement with Russia, which is a departure from the provisions fixed at the meeting in Istanbul regarding Crimea, and also changed the provision on military exercises without mentioning the need to obtain Russia's consent.
Zelensky said he was ready for personal talks with Putin
