Russia is ready for Istanbul negotiations with the Ukrainian side at any time, but Ukraine has not responded to previous initiatives. Chargé d’Affaires of Russia in Turkey Alexey Ivanov told TASS on the sidelines of the XVI Asian Conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club, organized in Istanbul in partnership with the Ankara Institute.
“The Russian side has repeatedly emphasized that we are ready to continue direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side, with the Ukrainian delegation. And also our Turkish partners invariably emphasize that the Istanbul platform remains at our disposal, these doors remain open for us,” he said.
The diplomat noted that “if political will is shown on the part of Kyiv,” the Russian Federation is ready for such negotiations “at any moment.”
Ivanov recalled that the Russian side, during the previous rounds of negotiations, conveyed its number of proposals.
“A number of initiatives were voiced, including the creation of three online working groups. Unfortunately, there has been no positive reaction to these so far. We did not receive any initiative from the Ukrainian side,” he added.