The Russian Minister of Kharijah, Sergey Lavrov, announced that working on a memorandum of understanding to stop the fire in Ukraine has reached an advanced stage.
A second round of direct negotiations
He added in a press conference today, Friday, from Moscow, that his country does not refuse to communicate with Ukrainian President Folodimir Zellinski to reach an agreement.
He also continued that Russia will hold a second round of direct negotiations with Ukraine, pointing out that the issue of “legitimacy of Zelinski” will be important when it comes to signing a peace agreement.
He believed that the meeting with Ukraine in the Vatican is unrealistic.
He also considered that the militarization of the West to Europe is a very dangerous trend, and that Ukraine expected eternal American support, as he put it.
This came just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that a decision was taken to establish a security buffer zone along the border between Russia and Ukraine, indicating that the Russian forces are currently working on this.
He described Putin, during a meeting with members of the Russian government, the methods used by the Ukrainian armed forces as “terrorist”, noting that “Ukraine bombarded targets in the border areas that have no military value: homes, people and civil sites.”
During the meeting, Putin also spoke about his visit to Corsak County and the direct dialogue with the population. He said: “We discussed the issues that raise the concern of the population, the residents of the villages and towns that have suffered from the bombing and military operations, and from those terrorist methods that were used and used by Ukrainian formations and foreign mercenaries.”
The first peace talks since 2022
It is noteworthy that Moscow and Kiev were holding the first peace talks between them since the spring of 2022 in Turkey, last Friday, but the meeting that lasted less than two hours failed to reach a ceasefire or achieve other major breakthroughs.
Russia adheres to demands that Kiev rejects, including that Ukraine abandons the idea of joining NATO, to give up four parts partially controlled by Russia, in addition to the Crimea that Moscow included in 2014, and that the shipments of Western weapons stop.
On the other hand, Ukraine strongly rejects these demands and demands the withdrawal of the Russian army.
Kiev, along with her Western allies, also demanded a truce before the peace talks, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rejected.
