David Arachamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, confirmed that talks were expected to resume in Istanbul on Tuesday morning. “While we can not and will not talk about progress in the talks, the fact that they continue to take place in person is important, of course,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on Sunday that Istanbul would host peace talks this week. Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters Monday that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations could reach an agreement in talks, as Moscow believed NATO had heard some of its security concerns. Tass news agency. “Therefore, I still see that there is a possibility for an agreement, because there is an understanding of the gross mistakes of our Western partners for many years, it is present now, although for obvious reasons it will be difficult to say it out loud,” Lavrov said. . “We have an interest in these talks being successful, an outcome that will meet our key objectives,” Lavrov said. However, he also outlined points that Moscow intends to make, such as the demilitarization and “denationalisation” of Ukraine, which in the past had hindered progress. “When we negotiate with the Ukrainian side now. . . “We have to make sure that Ukraine stops militarily establishing itself with the West and NATO,” Lavrov said. “That Ukraine ceases to be a country that is constantly militarizing.” Putin could meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the future, Lavrov added, but only if progress was made on Russia’s key goals, as a mere exchange of views at the moment would be “counterproductive.” Zelensky had said before the peace talks that Ukraine was ready to declare neutrality, abandon its bid to join NATO and agree not to develop nuclear weapons if Russia withdraws its troops and Kyiv receives security guarantees.
