MOSCOW
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the date of the third round of the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul will be determined after completing the prisoner of war exchanges.
Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said currently Moscow and Kyiv are engaged in implementing the humanitarian agreements reached during the second round of direct negotiations in Istanbul on June 2.
"Once all agreed procedures, including the exchanges, are completed, it will be time to determine the dates for the third round," he said.
Following the second round of negotiations in Istanbul on June 2, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a prisoner exchange based on the formula "one thousand for one thousand," as well as the return of severely ill and servicemen under age 25.
Peskov said Moscow remains interested in Washington continuing its mediation efforts in resolving the Ukrainian conflict.
Commenting on remarks by US envoy Steve Witkoff, who expressed the hope that the situation around Iran would contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, the official said the two situations are "inherently incomparable."
"The outbreak of the conflict and the Israeli attacks on Iran were completely unprovoked. As for the start of a 'special military operation,' the forerunner of this is well known to everyone," he stressed.
Peskov stressed that the approach "peace through strength" is unlikely applicable to Russia, and its application will not allow achieving any goals.
Commenting on remarks by European politicians about Russia's "threat," Peskov said the West employs the fictional threat posed by Russia "to extract money from its taxpayers."
"This is the method used to justify further funding for arming Ukraine," he argued.
Europe "follows a very militaristic policy and, above all, declares that it will continue this approach," he said. "This is rather unfortunate."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have never discussed the issue of a "Russian threat" to Europe because "serious people have never approached this question seriously," Peskov said.