Putin: Russia ready for talks with Ukraine only if based on Istanbul 2022 agreements

Putin: Russia ready for talks with Ukraine only if based on Istanbul 2022 agreements

Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is willing to hold peace talks with Ukraine, but only on the basis of the terms agreed during the negotiations in Istanbul in 2022, which were widely viewed as unfavourable to Ukraine.

Quote: "Russia is ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine. Ready on the basis of the agreements that were reached in Istanbul and, let me remind you, that were initialled by the Ukrainian delegation. So they were satisfied with everything at the time. I see no reason for us to move away from those agreements.

On the basis of the agreements reached in Istanbul, on the basis of the modalities discussed in Anchorage and, most importantly, on the basis of the realities on the ground, as well as the principles I outlined several years ago during my address at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Details: Putin also claimed that the so-called "Kyiv regime" is attempting to create the impression that it holds strong positions ahead of potential negotiations.

He believes, however, that Ukraine is not in a strong position and is merely trying to project one. According to Putin, "the realities on the battlefield look completely different".

He further claimed that Russian military units are advancing every day.

Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation in Istanbul, said during the negotiations that Russia was prepared to fight forever against Ukraine and threatened to seize Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts as well. "We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you prepared to fight?" Medinsky asked the Ukrainian side.

Background: On 15 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had proposed meeting Putin at the G7 summit in France for talks on ending the war, but that Russia was not ready to talk. On 4 June, Zelenskyy sent an open letter to Putin proposing a face-to-face bilateral meeting to end the war. Meanwhile, the Kremlin leader said that he had read Zelenskyy's open letter and saw no point in holding such a meeting.