Potential negotiations should take into account « new conditions », said the head of diplomacy, quoting the Russian president.
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to resume talks with Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. The top diplomat made the remarks at a press conference in Tokyo where he is attending the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July.
According to Cavusoglu, Putin floated the idea during a conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
“During negotiations with our president, Putin announced the possibility of resuming negotiations with Kyiv, but on new conditions that have arisen,” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying, He did not elaborate on the « conditions » specified.
The minister also reiterated Ankara’s willingness to hold direct talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. “Our president will continue his contacts with Putin and Zelensky. Our goal is to bring the two leaders together to ensure decisions are made at the leadership level,” said Cavusoglu.
Senior Russian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow is ready to talk with Kyiv, blaming the Ukrainian side for the stalled negotiations. Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the dialogue was « of course necessary » adding that Putin had already explained that « Ukraine left the negotiations several months ago. »
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In addition to declaring the goal of defeating Moscow on the battlefield, Ukrainian officials have also reacted angrily to the referendums on joining Russia, currently underway in the Donbas republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. in southern Ukraine. On Sunday, Zelensky warned that if Russia completes the vote, it will « to render impossible, in any case, the continuation of any diplomatic negotiations » with Moscow.
Russia sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, citing kyiv’s failure to implement the Minsk Accords, intended to give Donetsk and Luhansk regions special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that kyiv’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to save time and « to create powerful armed forces. »
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbas republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. kyiv insists the Russian offensive was unprovoked.
