On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian delegation is ready to present the Ukrainian side with a memorandum on the settlement during the second round of talks in Istanbul on June 2. At the same time, the Kremlin said that Russia has not yet received a response from Ukraine to its proposal to hold talks in Istanbul on Monday.
"Russia is interested in a speedy settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was once again confirmed by [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, who on May 10 put forward an initiative to resume direct talks with Kiev, interrupted in the spring of 2022," Rudenko said at the 10th International Conference "Russia and China: Cooperation in a New Era."
He noted that "the meeting of representatives of Russia and Ukraine held in Istanbul allowed them to agree on a number of practical steps for settlement."
"We hope that Kiev will take these negotiations seriously this time and take advantage of the opportunity to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis," Rudenko noted.