Putin Ensures Russia Is Ready To Continue Peaceful Negotiations With Ukraine

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to hold a new round of peace negotiations with Ukraine. Negotiations are likely in Istanbul, although time and place have not been agreed upon.

Reported by Reuters on Saturday, June 28, Putin said there was a big difference between proposals submitted by both sides at previous talks.

But Putin expressed hope that a sustainable dialogue would help narrow the gap.

Putin told reporters in Minsk that negotiators of both sides continued to communicate. Russia is ready to return the bodies of 3,000 other Ukrainian soldiers.

Regarding the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, Turkey is reportedly seeking to gain NATO support for the initiative of the peace agreement.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously announced Turkey was planning new steps in Ukraine's peace process, without elaborating.

Erdogan said at the NATO summit in The Hague, Turkey intended to "explain this vision" to partners and insisted it would not stop "until peace is reached."

In early June, Erdogan hoped US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could meet in Turkey, while declaring that Turkey would take steps in this direction.

Meanwhile, last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that the date for the new round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine is expected to be agreed upon the following week.