The documents that Russian and Ukrainian sides had initiated in Istanbul could be used as the basis for negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
"We have never refused this [negotiations with Kiev], but not on the basis of some ephemeral demands, but on the basis of the documents that had been agreed upon and actually initialed in Istanbul," Putin said.
The "whole trick" is that Moscow and Kyiv managed to agree at meetings in Turkey in 2022. This is evidenced by the signature of the head of the Ukrainian delegation, who initialed the document.
"This means that the Ukrainian side was generally satisfied with the agreements reached. [The agreement] did not enter into force only because the Kyiv authorities were ordered not to proceed," Putin concluded.
In November 2023, Ukrainian politician David Arakhamia, who headed the country's delegation at those negotiations, said that Kyiv's decision to refuse to continue the talks was influenced, among other things, by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's advice.