Russia says ready for peace talks, blames Kiev for shutdown

The chief negotiator of Russia said this Thursday (16) that Moscow is ready to restart peace negotiations with the Ukraine but has not yet received a response to its latest proposals, the Interfax news agency reported.

Since intermittent talks between the two sides were held in March, including a high-level meeting of delegations in the Turkish city of Istanbul, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have stalled.

Russia’s top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Thursday that Kiev is to blame for the lack of progress, according to Interfax.

On Wednesday (15), the President of France Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine will have to hold talks with Russia at some point to try to put an end to the war between the two countries.

“The Ukrainian president and his officials will have to negotiate with Russia,” Macron said during a visit to Romania and Moldova.

Macron was criticized by Ukraine and allies of the eastern europe by what they perceived as his ambiguous support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Western military and intelligence officials believe the war is at a critical stage that could determine the long-term outcome of the conflict, according to several US sources. United States and other Western intelligence services.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensk y, said on May 27 that the country is not eager to talk to Russian Vladimir Putin but who has to face the reality that it will likely be necessary to end the war.

“There are things to discuss with the Russian leader. I’m not saying that our people are eager to talk to him, but we have to face the reality of what we’re living in,” Zelensky said. in a speech .

“What we want from this reunion is our lives back. We want to regain the life of a sovereign country within its own territory,” he said, adding that Russia still does not seem ready for peace talks.