Russia says no Ukraine response on proposal for more Istanbul talks
Russia says it has yet to receive a response from Ukraine over its proposal to hold another round of ceasefire talks in Istanbul next week, as Turkiye's president urged the warring sides not to 'close the door' to dialogue.
Moscow said earlier this week it wanted to hold new talks with Ukraine in the Turkish city to present a memorandum that would outline what it referred to as the key elements for 'overcoming the root causes' of the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that so far Moscow has not received a reply from Kyiv.
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.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Wednesday that Kyiv had already submitted its memorandum on a potential settlement and called on Russia to produce its version immediately, rather than waiting until next week.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, said on X on Thursday that Russia's hesitancy to share its plan suggests that it was 'likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums'.
'They are afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process,' Tykhyi said.
Officials from both sides met in Istanbul on May 16, their first direct talks in more than three years, but the encounter failed to yield a breakthrough.
But Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the recent momentum for talks was an opportunity to reach lasting peace.
'The road to a resolution goes through more dialogue, more diplomacy. We are using all our diplomatic power and potential for peace,' he told reporters on Thursady, according to his office.
'During the course of each of our meetings, we have reminded our interlocutors that they should not pass up this opportunity,' Erdogan said, adding that 'extinguishing this huge fire in our region … is a humanitarian duty.'
In Ukraine, local authorities said at least five people were killed across the country after Russia fired 90 drones overnight.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said its air defences had intercepted 48 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 30 over the Belgorod region.
The ministry added in separate comments that its army had captured the village of Stroivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region as well as Gnativka and Shevchenko Pershe in the Donetsk region.
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