Putin: Russian troops withdrew from Kyiv region to create conditions for negotiations with Ukraine
During his visit to Iran, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the Russian troop withdrew troops from the Kyiv region in order to “create conditions” for Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.
According to Putin, at the talks in Istanbul, the parties "have actually reached an agreement, it remains only to initialize it."
"In order to create these conditions (for negotiations), our troops withdrew from the center of Ukraine, from Kyiv. The Kyiv authorities refused to implement these agreements, although they were practically achieved. So, the final result depends, of course, not on the mediators, but on the desire of the parties to fulfill the agreements reached. We see today that the Kyiv authorities have no such desire," Putin said, thanking Turkish representatives for providing an opportunity for negotiations.
On April 2, the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the Kyiv region from the Russian troops. More than a thousand killed Ukrainian residents were found in the region after the Russian troops withdrew. Some of them were found with their hands tied and shots to their heads.
Earlier, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Dmytro Kuleba, said that Ukraine would return to peace talks with Russia only after the Russian army was defeated on the battlefield.
Commenting on Putin's visit to Iran, adviser to the head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, Oleksiy Arestovich said that the Russian president intends to conclude an agreement with the Iranian authorities on the supply of Iranian drones to the Russian army.