The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed Ukraines proposals at peace talks butplayed down progress at the negotiations after more than a month of war.Russias chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said following three-hour talks in Istanbul on Tuesday that Moscow will study Kyivs proposals which include an offer of neutrality in exchange for security guarantees and report them to President Vladimir Putin.The positive thing is that the Ukrainian side has at least begun to concretely formulate and put on paper its proposals, Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the next day.But he played down expectations that the latest round of talks the first in eight days of fighting would yield tangible results.We cant state anything very promising or any breakthroughs.
Theres still a very, very long way to go, Peskov was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.Peskov said Medinsky is expected to further debrief reporters on the results of the negotiations later Wednesday.Russian negotiators pledged to radically reduce military activity near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, though local officials reported heavy shelling well after Tuesdays announcement.Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite expressing cautious optimism, said positive signals from the talks dont drown out the explosions or Russian shells as he vowed to keep up defense efforts.Western capitals also met the Russian promise of scaling down operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv with skepticism.In his comments Wednesday, Peskov appeared to shoot down Ukraines proposal for a 15-year consultation period on the status of Russian-annexed Crimea.We wont invade Crimea, its part of Russia, he said.
According to our constitution, we cant discuss the fate of Russian territories or the fate of Russian regions with anyone, thats excluded.Ukraine has said its proposals would need to be put forward in a referendum.