Russia Says It Is Ready to Present Peace Memorandum to Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul
Russia has proposed holding the next round of peace talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"The Russian side, as agreed, has promptly developed a relevant memorandum, which sets out our position on all aspects of reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis," he said.
The Russian delegation, led by Vladimir Medinskiy, is ready to present the memorandum to the Ukrainian side and to provide necessary clarifications during the second round of resumed direct talks in Istanbul next Monday, Lavrov added.
Medinsky said on the Telegram messaging app that he had called Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Wednesday with proposals for the date and venue of the next meeting.
"Let me emphasize: right there, on the spot, we are ready to begin an essential, substantive discussion of each of the points of the package agreement on a possible ceasefire," he said.
Medinsky said he expected a reply from Ukraine and that Russia's delegation was ready to meet its Ukrainian counterparts face-to-face in the coming days.
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was agreed that Russia and Ukraine would each prepare their vision of "modalities of settlement and ceasefire" and would discuss and exchange the documents at the next round of talks.
Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, delegates from the warring countries met earlier this month in Istanbul for the first time since March 2022, the month after Russia sent troops to its neighbor.
The talks failed to reach an agreement for a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a call with Trump on May 19, said that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord.
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