Russia's weeklong delay in getting ready a proposal on a peace settlement is a "mockery of the entire world," President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned in his night handle on Might 23.
The remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin, throughout a cellphone name with U.S. President Donald Trump on Might 19, refused to assist a full ceasefire in Ukraine. As an alternative, the Kremlin proposed drafting a "memorandum" on a doable future peace settlement.
Zelensky mentioned that, whereas Ukraine and its companions are working towards a right away ceasefire, Russia is stalling.
"When it took the Russians per week to formulate the so-called 'memorandum' in response to the demand for a ceasefire, it’s positively a mockery of the entire world," Zelensky mentioned.
"We’d like a ceasefire. We’d like diplomatic steps towards actual peace. And it's positively time to place extra stress on Russia."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned on Might 20 that there was "no timeline" for finishing the doc, in accordance with Russian state media TASS.
Three days later, Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned Russia would solely submit the draft "settlement doc" after the continued prisoner trade is accomplished.
That trade, agreed throughout direct Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul on Might 16, noticed each side start returning 1,000 prisoners of struggle (POWs) on Might 23. It marks the most important such swap since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 and is the one concrete end result of the Istanbul talks up to now.
Zelensky mentioned Moscow continues to dam any significant progress past the prisoner swap.
"Day-after-day within the struggle is a lack of life. After all, in Russia, they don't rely folks. However the world should rely," he mentioned. "New sanctions towards Russia are wanted. I thank each certainly one of you who advocate and assist this."
The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko