Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no concrete agreement on next meetings with Ukraine, days after US President Donald Trump said they would begin ceasefire talks "immediately".
The Associated Press reports this.
"There is no concrete agreement on next meetings. They still need to be agreed," kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Also during talks in Istanbul on May 16, Kyiv and moscow agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, which would be the largest such exchange.
According to Peskov, a large-scale prisoner exchange is "a rather laborious process" that "requires some time". He added: "The work is proceeding at a rapid pace, everyone is interested in doing it quickly".
In addition, Peskov told the russian Interfax news agency that moscow had allegedly provided Kyiv with a list of prisoners it wanted to release.
"We have not yet received a counter-list from Kyiv. We are waiting," he said.
As a reminder, on May 22, the head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, reported that Ukraine had done its part of the preparatory work regarding the "1,000-for-1,000" prisoner exchange with russia, and russia should speed up.
The publication recalled that russian leader vladimir putin said earlier this week that moscow would "offer and is ready to work with" Ukraine on a "memorandum" that would outline the framework of a "possible future peace treaty."
At the same time, putin effectively rejected the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine accepted. He linked this possibility to a halt to mobilization in Ukraine and a freeze on Western arms supplies to Kyiv as part of a comprehensive settlement.
Meanwhile, European leaders have accused putin of stalling peace efforts as he seeks to seize more Ukrainian territory.
In addition, Peskov denied a report published on Thursday in The Wall Street Journal that Trump told European leaders after a phone call with putin on Monday that the russian leader was not interested in negotiations because he believed moscow was winning.
"We know what Trump told Putin, we don't know what Trump told the Europeans. We know President Trump's official statement. What we know contrasts with what was written in the article you mentioned," Peskov said.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Polish Prime Minister Tusk did not confirm The Wall Street Journal's information either. At the same time, he said, the situation is complicated because "there is not even a trace of goodwill on the Russian side to cease fire as soon as possible and start honest peace talks."
Meanwhile, during a briefing on the results of a conversation with US President Donald Trump after his call to russian leader vladimir putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed that a meeting of Ukraine, russia, the US and representatives of European countries in Turkey, the Vatican or Switzerland is being considered.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.