Kremlin: Ukraine Peace Talks Complex, No Quick Decision Likely

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that work on trying to reach a settlement to end the war in Ukraine was extraordinarily complex and that it would be wrong to expect any imminent decisions but that it was waiting for Ukrainian reaction to its proposals.

The Kremlin was commenting after Russia told Ukraine at peace talks in Turkey on Monday that it would only agree to end the fighting if Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army, demands Ukraine has repeatedly rejected.

Despite dismissing such proposals previously, Ukraine has said it will take some time before formally responding to Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow was waiting for that reaction and that agreements reached at the Istanbul talks to exchange prisoners and the bodies of dead soldiers would be honored by Moscow.

"The (peace) settlement theme is extremely complex, it consists of a large number of nuances, and you saw yesterday the published text of the draft (peace) memorandum that we handed over to the Ukrainian side," said Peskov.

"Of course, it would be wrong to expect any immediate solutions and breakthroughs here, but work is underway, certain agreements were reached in Istanbul, and they are important.

"The agreements will be implemented and then the work will continue," he said.

Peskov said Russia and the U.S. had not yet agreed on any specific future contacts between President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, but that Putin was ready for various high-level contacts if they were properly prepared.

It was unlikely though, added Peskov when asked, that Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskiy would hold face-to-face talks together in the near future.

Asked if Russia was ready to compromise on any of its own proposals for a settlement, Peskov declined to comment, saying that negotiations had to be conducted behind closed doors.