President Vladimir Putin has said that peace talks with Ukraine are at a “dead end” as the Russian leader claims that Kyiv has deviated from agreements struck in Istanbul.
“We reached a certain level of agreements in Istanbul, which stated that security guarantees for Ukraine . . . would not spread to Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas,” Putin said on Tuesday as he spoke publicly about Russia’s military activity after a prolonged silence on the issue.
“We acted to create conditions to continue talks,” he added. “Instead, we faced the provocation in Bucha and, what’s most important, the Ukrainian side deviated from the Istanbul agreements,” Putin said.