Russia Ready To Continue Istanbul's Negotiations With Ukraine

Third round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations at Ciragan Palace Istanbul, Turkey (Twitter/@HakanFidan)

JAKARTA - Moscow senior diplomat Alexey Polishcuk said Russia was willing to continue the negotiation process in Istanbul with Ukraine, and the decision was in Kyiv's hands.

"For the time being, Kyiv has postponed negotiations. Turkish officials have repeatedly asked them to continue. The Russian (negotiational) team is ready for that, and the decision rests with Ukraine," he told TASS as quoted November 13.

Previously, Istanbul had held three rounds of direct negotiations with Ukrainian officials, Polishchuk recalled.

"While the conversation was not easy, both sides reached an important humanitarian agreement to exchange prisoners of war on a large scale, repatriate the bodies of the soldiers who died, and repatriate civilians," he explained.

"Both sides exchanged memorandums about their vision to resolve the conflict. In addition, the myth that states that tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped has been refuted," the diplomat said, adding a third of the names in Ukraine's list of 339 children to Russia proved irrelevant.

On the other hand, Ukraine has not responded to Russia's proposal to form three working groups as part of Istanbul's peace process, Polishchuk concluded.