KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Russia was engaging in “yet another deception” by failing to hand over its peace settlement proposal ahead of a potential meeting between Moscow and Kyiv.
“Even the so-called ‘memorandum’ they promised and seemingly prepared for more than a week has still not been seen by anyone,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
“Ukraine has not received it. Our partners have not received it. Even Turkey, which hosted the first meeting, has not received the new agenda.
“Despite promises to the contrary, first and foremost to the the United States of America, to President (Donald) Trump: Yet another Russian deception.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow had drafted a memorandum outlining a settlement position in the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine.
He suggested a second round of direct talks take place on Monday, again in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has maintained good ties with both sides, told reporters that Russia’s invitaation for more talks had heightened Ankara’s hopes for peace.
“The road to a resolution goes through more dialogue, more diplomacy. We are using all our diplomatic power and potential for peace,” Erdogan’s office quoted him as saying.
In Washington, the White House said Trump, who has been pressing both sides to move towards an agreement, hoped the proposed meeting in Istanbul would go ahead.
KREMLIN: NO WORD FROM KYIV ON TALKS
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow had received no reply from Kyiv on whether it would attend negotiations on Monday in Istanbul .
Russia, Zelenskiy said in his address, was “doing everything to make the meetings hollow” and Ukraine’s partners needed to intensify pressure on Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said that without being able to review Russia’s memorandum, Kyiv would conclude “it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums, and they are afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process”.
When asked to comment on Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha’s suggestion that Russia should immediately hand over the memorandum, Peskov dismissed the idea as “non-constructive”.
“Here, you have to either confirm your readiness to continue negotiations or do the opposite,” Peskov said.
Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, quoted by TASS news agency, said the composition of the delegation to the next meeting would be unchanged from the first round.
The Russian delegation for the first round included an adviser to the president, a top diplomat and senior military and intelligence officials.
Zelenskiy had proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin meet him at the first Istanbul session. Putin did not join, prompting Zelenskiy not to participate and leave a delegation of officials to represent Ukraine.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Yuliia Dysa, Editing by Ron Popeski and Cynthia Osterman)
