According to RT, former Russian President and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the Kiev government is facing a "last chance" to preserve a form of state when the conflict with Russia ends, and called on Ukraine to participate in peace negotiations.
Speaking at the International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg. Petersburg on May 20, Russian Security Council Vice Chairman Dmitry Medvedev stressed that Russia is ready to conduct direct, unconditional peace talks with Ukraine, based on reality on the ground and addressing the root causes of the conflict.
According to him, the Ukrainian leadership can maintain a certain form of sovereignty and opportunities for peaceful development if it takes advantage of this time.
Mr Medvedev also expressed concern that currently no one in the Ukrainian government has the legal status to sign a peace agreement with Russia. The reason is that a treaty signed by the current administration could be rejected by the new administration when there is a leadership change in Kiev.
President Volodymyr Zelensky officially ended his term last year, but has delayed holding new elections, citing the state of war and martial law. This has raised Moscow's suspicions about his legality as leader of Ukraine. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently said Russia could ignore the issue to restart negotiations.
Pursuing peace is a top priority, Peskov said, asserting that starting the negotiation process is more important than all other issues, which are just the weakest.
In that context, last week, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul, marking their first direct contact since Kiev unilaterally withdrew from the peace process in 2022. The head of the Russian negotiation delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said the two sides had reached an agreement to exchange prisoners, each holding 1,000 people, and would continue to contact after completing detailed proposals on the ceasefire.
Despite Russia's assessment that Ukraine has failed in its state structure, Moscow has shown a readiness to move towards peace if Kiev accepts reality and returns to negotiations.
