Kremlin says no 'breakthrough' in peace talks with Ukraine

The Kremlin has said there was nothing "too promising" in the results of a round of discussions between Russian and Ukrainian delegates in the Turkish city of Istanbul a day earlier.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday Moscow considered it "positive" that Kyiv had started outlining its demands in writing.

"What is positive is that the Ukrainian side has at least started to specifically formulating and putting on paper what it is proposing. Until now we had not managed to achieve that," he said

"As regards the rest, we cannot, put it this way, at present state there have been any breakthroughs, anything very promising," he said, adding that a lot of work was still to be done.

"We carefully avoid making statements on the matters" that are discussed at the talks because "we believe that negotiations should take place in silence", the spokesman added.

Following the talks on Tuesday, Vladimir Medinsky, had described the Istanbul meeting, the first face-to-face talks between the two sides in more than two weeks, as "meaningful."

 Russia has also said that it would scale back attacks on Kyiv and in northern Ukraine "to build trust."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei has recently said that Moscow can now focus on its key objective since the main tasks of the first phase of the offensive has been completed and Russian forces have “significantly reduced” the Ukrainian military’s combat power.

The top Russian official warned that Moscow would respond "adequately" if the NATO military alliance supplied Ukraine with planes and air defense systems.

SS