Russia is ready to continue direct negotiations with representatives of Kyiv, — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Galuzin, the former ambassador of Russia to Japan, and now the deputy minister of foreign affairs of Sergei Lavrov, who deals with issues related to the "Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Union State", said this in an interview with the propaganda Russian mass media "Izvestia".

The deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mykhailo Galuzin, said that Kyiv itself is allegedly "avoiding direct dialogue", and more than three months have passed since the last talks between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in Istanbul, and no new contacts have been reported. "Moscow is ready to continue negotiations on the resolution of the crisis in Ukraine, in particular in the Istanbul format. However, Kyiv demonstrates a lack of political will," Mykhailo Galuzin said.

Lavrov's deputy said that Russia "is open to a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and to the continuation of direct negotiations with representatives of Kyiv. " "Turkish representatives have repeatedly confirmed their readiness to continue providing them with the Istanbul site. Thus, all the conditions for the development of the Istanbul track are in place. The only problem is the lack of political will in Kyiv," he said.

"Izvestia" notes that earlier the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmytro Peskov reported that the Russian Federation presented draft documents and proposals on working groups to Ukraine, but no response was received from Kyiv. These proposals also remain valid, Galuzin emphasized. On October 28, the administration of the President of Turkey reported that there are currently no developments in the resumption of the negotiation process between Ukraine and Russia.

At the same time, Moscow is ready to continue discussions and study Kyiv's initiatives, noted the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

"All the proposals that the Russian delegation voiced during the Istanbul process, including the organization of local humanitarian truces on the line of battle, exchanges of prisoners, bodies of the dead, the return of civilians, the creation of three working groups, memorandums on the principles of peaceful settlement, all this remains on the negotiating table. We are ready to work on them and discuss possible counter-initiatives of the Ukrainian delegation," Galuzin said.

And he remembered that the Kremlin made concessions to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi. According to him, Zelensky criticized Russia for the "low level of the Russian delegation" at the negotiations in Istanbul and thereby explained the "non-seriousness of the process. " Galuzin assures that the Kremlin supported the proposal of the Ukrainian president and raised the level of the team.

"Unfortunately, Kyiv still ignores our proposals and avoids dialogue, still hoping with the help of Western support to achieve peace by force," Haluzin summarized. Direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv resumed in May 2025. In total, three meetings were held, the last of which took place on July 23. The parties were supposed to agree on a joint memorandum on a ceasefire and conflict resolution parameters, as well as agree on humanitarian exchanges.