Russia accused Ukraine of dropping back Istanbul proposals

Ukraine dropped back the proposals made to the Russian side earlier during the Istanbul negotiations. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ukraine's new draft peace agreement does not link to the Istanbul agreements.

“Yesterday, the Ukrainian side submitted to the negotiating group its draft agreement, which is a drop back from the most important positions recorded at the meeting in Istanbul on March 29,” the Russian Foreign Minister said.

Lavrov noted that Ukraine removed positions related to non-proliferation of international security guarantees for the country to the Crimea and Sevastopol. Instead, the Ukrainian side introduced "vague statements about some kind of effective control as of February 23."

In addition, Kyiv refused to coordinate military exercises with Russia on Ukrainian territory.