Putin says Ukraine changed its stance from Istanbul peace talks

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Ukraine had changed its stance from last month's peace talks in Istanbul, saying the talks are now at a “dead end.”

"We reached at a certain level of agreements in Istanbul, which suggested that security guarantees for Ukraine … will not spread to the territory of Crimea, Sevastopol, and Donbas.

"We acted to create conditions for the continuation of the peace talks, but instead, we faced a provocation in Bucha, and the main thing is that Ukraine deviated from its position in Istanbul," Putin said at a news conference following a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Ukraine now wants to talk about issues of the Donbas and Crimea separately from the issues of security guarantees, he said.


Asked whether Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine could be expedited, Putin said it can be, but the fighting has to be intensified which means greater human losses.

"Our task is to achieve all the set goals, minimizing these losses. And we will act rhythmically, calmly, according to the plan that was originally proposed by the General Staff," he said.