Moscow says progress has been made in peace talks with Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that some progress had been made in peace talks with Ukraine and that Moscow was preparing its response to Ukrainian proposals.

At a press conference after talks with Indian officials, Lavrov said peace talks with Ukraine needed to continue, but that Kiev had shown “much more understanding” of the situation in Crimea and Donbass and the need for their neutral status.

The next round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place remotely, via videoconference, this Friday. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, confirmed the information on Wednesday (30).

In a message posted on his Telegram channel, Arakhamia said that during negotiations held in Turkey this week, it was announced that the time had come for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, Russia’s negotiators said a draft agreement with stronger approval from both sides needed to happen first, according to Arakhamia.

The most recent round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held last Tuesday (29) in Istanbul, a city in Turkey, came to an end with no signed agreements, but with new information about the demands of both sides to forward the talks. forward — such as Ukrainian neutrality.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials and Western bodies said this week that Russian troops were redeploying inside Ukraine, especially in the Donbass region — home to the breakaway provinces of Luhanks and Donetsk, recognized as independent by the Kremlin.

However, the move does not mean a ceasefire within Ukrainian territory. Follow CNN’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

*With information from CNN