Negotiations Not Continued, Russia Will Continue Special Military Operations In Ukraine

JAKARTA - Russia was forced to continue a special military operation because Ukraine had no intention of negotiating, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"Given the absence of the opportunity to continue negotiations, we will definitely continue special military operations to achieve the goals set by the Supreme Commander and President (Vladimir Putin)," Peskov told a news conference, commenting on the latest statement by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to stop negotiations with Russia over conflict resolution. , reported TASS November 14.

Nevertheless, Peskov reiterated that Russia is still open to resolving the Ukraine conflict through political and diplomatic channels.

"Russia is open to resolving the Ukrainian conflict through political and diplomatic channels. However, due to the absence of such an opportunity, when the door to this has been closed tightly by the Kyiv regime, we continue special military operations," according to Peskov.

Britain's daily newspaper, The Times, published an article on November 12 based on an interview with Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Kislitsa, who was quoted as saying there was no "significant progress" in this year's Russia-Ukraine negotiations and Kyiv decided to "attract" from contact with Moscow regarding conflict resolution.

Russia has repeatedly expressed its readiness to continue negotiations with Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated this in early September.

Russia's top diplomat stressed that the diplomatic resolution of the crisis in Ukraine remains a priority for Russia. Both sides made some progress in this case during the three rounds of direct negotiations at the beginning of the year, he said.

This week, Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexey Polishchuk said Russia was willing to continue the negotiation process in Istanbul with Ukraine, but the final decision was in Ukraine's hands.

It is known that the first round of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine was held in Istanbul on May 16, in which both sides agreed to exchange prisoners with a formula "1,000 for 1,000" and submit a memorandum on aspects of crisis management.

The second round of direct negotiations continued was also held in Istanbul on June 2. After that, both parties exchanged peace terms and agreed on the exchange of prisoners of war who were seriously injured and the bodies of the soldiers who died. Moscow also handed over the bodies of thousands of soldiers who died to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, the third round of Russia-Ukraine direct negotiations regarding Ukraine's settlement took place in Istanbul on July 23.

Prior to a collective meeting, chief delegates, Russian Assistant President Vladimir Medinsky, and Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, held a one-on-one conversation.

The collective meeting lasted about 40 minutes in which both sides discussed the position outlined in the memorandum draft.