The Kremlin stated on Tuesday that efforts to reach a settlement to end the war in Ukraine are exceptionally complex, and it cautioned against expecting imminent decisions. Moscow is awaiting Ukraine’s response to its proposals.
The Kremlin’s comments follow Russia’s indication at peace talks in Turkey on Monday that it would only agree to end the conflict if Kyiv cedes significant new territory and accepts limitations on its army size, demands that Ukraine has consistently rejected.
Despite previously dismissing such proposals, Ukraine has stated that it will take some time to formally respond to Russia’s latest offer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow is awaiting that reaction and that agreements reached at the Istanbul talks regarding the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of deceased soldiers would be honored by Moscow.
“The (peace) settlement theme is extremely complex, it consists of a large number of nuances, and you saw yesterday the published text of the draft (peace) memorandum that we handed over to the Ukrainian side,” Peskov said.
“Of course, it would be wrong to expect any immediate solutions and breakthroughs here, but work is underway, certain agreements were reached in Istanbul, and they are important.
“The agreements will be implemented and then the work will continue,” he said.
Peskov indicated that Russia and the U.S. have not yet agreed on specific future contacts between President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, but that Putin is open to various high-level contacts if they are adequately prepared.
However, Peskov deemed it unlikely that Putin, Trump, and Ukrainian President Zelenskiy would hold face-to-face talks together in the near future.
When asked if Russia was willing to compromise on any of its own settlement proposals, Peskov declined to comment, stating that negotiations must be conducted behind closed doors.