Istanbul (TIP): Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 5 said that he was ready for talks with Ukraine, on the basis of an aborted deal between Moscow’s and Kyiv’s negotiators reached in Istanbul in 2022.
Speaking at a question and answer session at Russia‘s Eastern Economic Forum in the city of Vladivostok, Putin said Russia was ready for talks but based on an aborted deal between Moscow’s and Kyiv’s negotiators reached in Istanbul in 2022, the terms of which were never made public.
“Are we ready to negotiate with them? We have never refused to do so, but not on the basis of some ephemeral demands, but on the basis of those documents that were agreed and actually initialled in Istanbul,” Putin said at a forum in Vladivostok. Russia has previously said that Kyiv’s incursion into the Kursk region made talks impossible.
The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of a deal in the spring of 2022, shortly after Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine.
“We managed to reach an agreement, that is the whole point. The signature of the head of the Ukrainian delegation who initialled this document testifies to this, which means that the Ukrainian side was generally satisfied with the agreements reached,” Putin said.
“It did not come into force only because they were given a command not to do so, because the elites of the United States, Europe – some European countries – wanted to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia,” Putin added.
Russian President also added that China, India and Brazil could act as mediators in the potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine according to a report by Reuters. According to the report, the Russian president stated that a preliminary agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine in the first weeks of the war in Istanbul, which was never implemented could act as the basis for the talks. (Agencies)