"Since July 2025, Kiev has still not responded to our proposals for a bilateral ceasefire monitoring and control center and three working groups, nor has it responded to our willingness to raise the level of delegations. In short, the ball is in Ukraine's court," Polishchuk said.
He added that Moscow remains open to dialogue and rejected Kiev’s claims that the discussions were ineffective. Referring to Ukraine’s decision to suspend the Istanbul talks in November 2025 due to an alleged lack of “tangible progress,” Polishchuk said such explanations “sound far-fetched.”
Russia and Ukraine previously held three rounds of direct talks in Istanbul, resulting in prisoner exchanges, the transfer of bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers, and the exchange of draft memoranda on a possible settlement.