Ukraine Foreign Ministry: Russia Made Unacceptable Demands in Istanbul

Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said that during the talks in Istanbul on Friday, the Russian side made statements unacceptable to Ukraine.

The Gaze reports on this with reference to European Pravda.

Tykhyi told reporters in Istanbul that during the talks, "the Russian delegation expressed a number of things that we consider unacceptable." He, however, refused to say which ones.

"We have a lot of experience in all kinds of negotiations with the Russians, believe me. There have been many rounds since 2014. Therefore, I would say that the Ukrainian delegation knows how to treat everything that can be expressed from the other side," the Foreign Ministry spokesman assured.

He also said that the Ukrainian delegation "did a great job" in the negotiations, and "our position remained unchanged".

A Ukrainian source told the media that Moscow had put forward "unrealistic" and "beyond anything that has ever been discussed" demands during the talks.

Russia's demands reportedly included Ukraine's withdrawal of troops from its own territories so that a ceasefire could be declared.

Commenting on the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, Turkey, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Russia's position unacceptable.

As The Gaze reported earlier, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks in Istanbul, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said that during the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia discussed the ceasefire and humanitarian issues, as well as a possible meeting at the level of leaders. In particular, the parties agreed to exchange prisoners in the format of "1000 for 1000".