It is too early to talk about a third round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia - MFA
Photo: spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhii Tykhyi (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
It is too early at this stage to talk about any preparations for a third round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. The lack of sufficient international pressure on Moscow is blocking political progress, states Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi during a briefing.
"As of now, it is too early to talk about any preparations (for the third round of negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation – ed.)," Tykhyi said. "Fortunately, the exchange process is ongoing. It's very complex, but it's underway. Yesterday was the first stage. We hope these stages will continue over the coming days. So for now, everything will proceed in phases — we hope."
According to him, the exchange of the bodies of fallen soldiers remains a complex humanitarian issue, but progress is being made.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also noted that, in parallel, Ukraine is calling on its partners to stop waiting and instead increase pressure on Russia.
"If this pressure had been applied earlier, the Istanbul meetings might have already yielded results. Instead, due to the lack of actual pressure, we are left with empty meetings. Yes, there's the humanitarian track — but again, that's the one track that was ongoing anyway, and the Russians are also interested in it, so it works both ways. But in order to see any movement on the political path, on diplomatic settlement, pressure is necessary — there are no other options. Only then will it become clear whether the Russians are ready to move toward peace," Tykhyi emphasized.
Ukraine–Russia negotiations
On June 2, Ukraine and Russia held the second round of peace talks. During the meeting, both sides agreed to carry out another exchange of prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers.
Earlier, Russia rejected a proposed ceasefire with Ukraine for at least 30 days without additional conditions — a proposal put forward by the United States.
During the second round of negotiations in Istanbul, Russia handed Ukraine its memorandum, which effectively turned out to be an ultimatum.
In particular, the aggressor state demands that Ukraine begin withdrawing its troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions as a condition for a ceasefire.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted, Russia rejected all peace initiatives that were offered to it — and must be held accountable for that.
