Russia says awaiting Ukraine's response
Russia on Thursday said it was still waiting for Ukraine to agree to attend talks in Istanbul on Monday, after Kyiv demanded Moscow send its peace terms before pledging to attend the meeting.
Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have gained pace in recent months, but Moscow has shown no signs of easing its bombardment of Ukraine and has repeatedly rebuffed calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Moscow has offered to hold a second round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2, where it wants to present a so-called "memorandum" outlining its conditions for a long-term peace settlement.
But Ukraine said the meeting would not yield results unless it saw a copy of the memorandum in advance, a proposal that the Kremlin dismissed.
"As far as I know, no response has been received yet... we need to wait for a response from the Ukrainian side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. AFP
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