Putin declares readiness for new negotiations with Ukraine and names tentative dates

The President of the aggressor country, the russian federation, vladimir putin, announced russia's readiness for the next round of negotiations with Ukraine and outlined preliminary dates for their holding.

He said this during a press conference within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

According to putin, the negotiations may take place after June 22. "The situation on the humanitarian track is such that these negotiations make sense now," he said, specifying that contacts between the negotiating groups are ongoing.

Putin also emphasized the kremlin's desire to end the war as soon as possible. "Believe me, we also want to end the war, and as soon as possible. And better - peacefully, if we could agree," he noted.

At the same time, the kremlin leader expressed the position that Ukraine should not delay the negotiations, otherwise "the situation for Kyiv may worsen even more."

Earlier in June, two rounds of negotiations were held between Ukraine and russia, but no significant progress was achieved due to unacceptable conditions from the russian side. Moscow insists on control over the four occupied regions and Crimea, the cessation of Western arms supplies, Ukraine's neutrality and guarantees of non-admission to NATO.

Currently, the only area where an agreement has been reached is the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of the fallen. As a result of the negotiations on June 2 in Istanbul, the parties agreed on a new exchange on the principle of "all for all", and also agreed to transfer 6,000 bodies of the fallen soldiers each.

It was also previously agreed to hold a personal meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and the russian federation. President Recep Erdogan proposed organizing the negotiations in Turkey. According to preliminary data, the Ukrainian side proposed holding them from June 20 to 30.