Ukraine seeks ceasefire, Russia responds with missile strikes - Foreign Minister
Photo: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine is fully prepared for a truce and a ceasefire. However, Russia is responding with missile attacks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says.
The journalist mentioned that the American media, citing insider information, had named a specific date for the ceasefire - July. Sybiha was asked why they were talking about this particular month.
"I will speak about Ukraine's position. Our country is ready to cease fire even tomorrow. I repeat, we are ready. The ball is in the Russian court. They have to say, "Yes!" But their response is to intensify missile terror. We offer peace, and they respond with missiles. There are no problems on our side. We are ready for a 30/60/90-day ceasefire. As long as you want," the Minister replied.
Kremlin's initiative on memorandum and Ukraine's reaction
On May 19, after a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, Russia's Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was ready to start working with Ukraine on a memorandum that could become the basis for a future peace treaty.
According to Putin, he and Trump agreed that Russia would make proposals and work with Kyiv on a document that would define the key principles of a possible agreement.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Trump and Putin had discussed the idea of such a memorandum, which could potentially be approved in a bilateral format. He added that this document could become the basis for a road map to end the war.
At the same time, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that there is no question and no way to talk about specific deadlines for the preparation of the memorandum.
On May 23, Zelenskyy emphasized that the Russian side had not presented a single draft memorandum in a week and criticized Moscow's delays.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Moscow was preparing a draft document for Kyiv that would specify its requirements for peace. It is allegedly planned to be handed over after the completion of the 1000-for-1000 prisoner exchange.
In turn, on May 23, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that the Ukrainian side was preparing its vision of a truce and was awaiting proposals from Russia.
