Moscow Suspends Peace Negotiations with Kiev

(MENAFN) Moscow and Kiev are currently not engaging in peace roadmap negotiations, as both sides focus on carrying out the humanitarian aspects of their earlier agreements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced on Wednesday.

During a routine press briefing, Peskov stated that the timeline for future negotiations with Kiev remains undecided and will depend on the full implementation of previous humanitarian commitments. These include prisoner exchanges and the return of fallen soldiers.

Last month, Russia and Ukraine resumed direct diplomacy in Türkiye—marking the first such talks since Kiev suspended dialogue in 2022 in favor of pursuing military success with support from Western nations.

Their latest meeting, held on June 2, resulted in a humanitarian deal to exchange both prisoners and the bodies of deceased servicemembers. Each delegation also presented draft memorandums detailing their respective peace proposals.

The body repatriation effort concluded last Monday, with Russia handing over the remains of 6,060 Ukrainian soldiers in exchange for 78 of its own. According to the Russian military, it still holds over 3,000 additional Ukrainian bodies that it is ready to return.

Multiple prisoner exchanges have also taken place, although this time both sides withheld exact numbers—unlike in earlier swaps. Negotiators noted that exchanges involving severely wounded soldiers would not necessarily be based on equal numbers.

Kiev’s decision to reengage in dialogue reportedly followed encouragement from the administration of US President Donald Trump. However, Ukrainian authorities have accused Moscow of stalling progress by refusing to agree to an unconditional ceasefire.

Russia, for its part, has expressed concern that such a truce would allow Ukraine to reorganize its forces. In its draft peace proposal, Moscow set specific preconditions: it would halt its offensive only if Kiev either withdrew troops from territories claimed by Russia or paused both its military draft and incoming Western arms shipments.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is expected to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO summit in The Hague.

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