Moscow - Saba:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated last night that the Kyiv regime agreed to Russia's proposal to resume the Istanbul talks thanks to the insistence of US President Donald Trump.
The Russian Foreign Ministry quoted Lavrov's remarks, in which he added that the substantive discussion on the Ukrainian issue between Moscow and Washington, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the year, is very useful and yielding results.
Lavrov noted that "the current US administration's resumption of direct dialogue is fully consistent with standard diplomatic practice, the abandonment of which under Joe Biden would have been contrary to common sense. The substantive discussion on the Ukrainian issue between Moscow and Washington, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the year, is very useful and yielding results. Thanks to the insistence of President Donald Trump, the Kyiv regime agreed to our proposal to resume the Istanbul talks."
He added that the progress is primarily due to the fact that our American colleagues, unlike the Europeans, who are focused on aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric, are aware of the current realities and are striving to address the root causes of the crisis. Lavrov noted, "We are also encouraged by the openness of our colleagues in Washington to continue a sincere, mutually respectful dialogue, taking into account factors such as the desirability of integrating a formula for a sustainable settlement of the situation in Ukraine into the context of reliably ensuring comprehensive European security based on a balance of the legitimate interests of all countries involved."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the United States could objectively assess Kyiv's actions aimed at eradicating everything Russian, and this would be an important step toward progress in resolving the situation in Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry website quoted Lavrov as saying, "Progress in reliably eliminating the root causes (of the Ukrainian crisis) requires a clear clarification of the positions of all Kyiv's sponsors regarding the Ukrainian regime's actions aimed at the legal and de facto eradication of everything Russian: language, education, culture, history, memory, and the ban on Orthodoxy."
The minister emphasized that "there is not a single country in the world, except for Ukraine, where any language is officially banned." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov added that Russia is awaiting a concrete response from Kyiv to the proposal to form working groups, which would represent a step toward reaching sustainable agreements.
The Russian minister noted that "three rounds (of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul) have already been held. In addition to important humanitarian agreements, we have proposed the formation of working groups on political and military issues, which would represent an important step toward reaching sustainable agreements, as the Russian president specifically emphasized on August 1 during his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on the Valaam TV channel. We are awaiting a concrete response from Kyiv."
At the same time, the minister noted that so far, only conflicting statements have come from Kyiv from Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Friday that he positively assesses the results of the recent Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul and the prisoner exchange. Putin told reporters: "I assess (the negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul) as generally positive. How can one not assess positively the return of hundreds of people to their homeland? This is positive. For humanitarian reasons, as you know, we handed over thousands of bodies of fallen Ukrainian servicemen, and in return we received dozens of our men who sacrificed their lives for their homeland. Isn't this positive? Of course, it's a positive moment."
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