Vladimir Medinsky. Archival photoMINSK, May 22. Presidential aide and head of the Russian delegation at the talks between Moscow and Kyiv, Vladimir Medinsky, on the air of the Belarusian ONT channel, said that the freezing of the process was an initiative of Ukraine. He stressed that Russia has never abandoned dialogue at the highest level.
"This has been repeatedly confirmed by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The only question is that in order to hold a summit meeting between the presidents, serious preparations are needed. That is, documents of a high degree of readiness are needed,» Medinsky said.
In his opinion, the Russian leader and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky should meet to reach final agreements and sign specific agreements, «and not to take pictures» .
Slutsky allowed the resumption of negotiations with Ukraine. He added that a month ago, the Russian side handed over to Kyiv a draft treaty in which a number of fundamental positions had already been agreed. «We intended to move on. However, since then there has been no desire to continue the dialogue on the part of Ukraine. They even officially they didn’t confirm the agreed draft treaty themselves. They disagreed that our counterparts took a break. They are in no hurry, apparently. The ball is on their side completely,” stated the presidential aide. Russian-Ukrainian consultations began in late February: the delegations two face-to-face meetings in Belarus, after which it was decided to continue them on a daily basis via video conferencing. At the end of March, another round of negotiations took place in Istanbul. As a result, Medinsky said that Ukraine had submitted its written proposals for a future treaty, Moscow considers this a step forward, and in general, Kyiv has shown a desire to negotiate for the first time in many years.
Deputy Foreign Minister announced Russia's readiness to return to negotiations with UkraineThe Russian side in response took two steps towards Ukraine. First, it was decided to significantly reduce hostilities in the Kiev and Chernigov directions. Secondly, Moscow suggested that the meeting between Putin and Zelensky be held simultaneously with the initialing of the treaty by the foreign ministers. However, later Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov 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, Kyiv presented its draft agreement with Moscow, 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.
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