Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, the 28th of May, about preparing “concrete proposals” for a new round of direct talks with Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters.
In a statement published on the ministry’s website, Lavrov briefed Rubio on the implementation of the agreements reached by the Russian and US presidents in a telephone conversation a week ago “and on how the Russian side is preparing concrete proposals for the next round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul”.
Lavrov said earlier that Russia proposes to hold the next round of direct talks in Istanbul on the 2nd of June in order to reach a lasting peace solution.
A foreign ministry statement later published on Telegram said Lavrov had spoken by telephone with his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, “exchanging views” on efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
The statement did not give further details.
Meanwhile, Politico reports that Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to give Russian President Vladimir Putin two weeks deadline to address the Ukraine issue, threatening a different response if the Russian President continued to tap him along.
“We will find out whether he is tapping uz along or not, and if so, we will react a little differently, but it will take about one and a half to two weeks,” president answered reporters’ questions at the White House on Wednesday. “It seems that they want to do something, but until the document is signed, I can’t tell you. Nobody can.”
“I can tell you one thing: I’m very disappointed about what happened a couple of days ago, when people were killed, and that happened at a time when there were what you can call in negotiations,” he continued, adding, “When I see missiles being fired at cities, that’s not good. We will not allow it.”
Asked about his decision not to impose new sanctions on Russia, he said: “If I think I have almost reached an agreement, I don’t want to ruin it […] I am much tougher than the people you are talking about, but you have to know when to use it.”
“If I think it will damage the deal – this is not my war, this is Biden’s war, Zelenskyy’s war, Putin’s war. This is not Trump’s war.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
Earlier on Wednesday, the UN concluded that Russia has systematically committed war crimes against civilians in the Kherson region of Ukraine.
Lavrov briefs Rubio on preparations for a new round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul
