The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that a Russian delegation is ready to resume peace talks with Ukraine.
“Our delegation will be ready to continue talks, noting that it expects to resume talks on Wednesday evening,” said Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov without revealing the location of the negotiations or any other details.
Later, TASS news agency quoted the Ukrainian presidency as saying: “We will hold the second round of talks with Russia today [Wednesday].”
“We are ready for talks, but not ready to accept Russian dictates,” said Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.
This came after conflicting reports about the resumption of the second round of negotiations, with TASS news agency quoting Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov as accusing Ukraine of delaying negotiations because of Washington.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Russian source denied reports of cancelling the negotiations with Ukraine, stressing that the date of the second round of negotiations has not yet been set.
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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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.
Wednesday marks the seventh of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine. While matters are escalating on the ground, the west continues to place pressure on Moscow through painful economic sanctions, the last of which came from Washington, with the US completely closing 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, Kuleba made it clear that Ukraine 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.
Meanwhile, The Russian presidential spokesperson announced that it was premature to talk about a meeting between the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart.
