MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Russian-Ukrainian talks continue in video format almost every day, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's second CIS department Alexey Polishchuk said in an interview with TASS.
"Direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations are currently ongoing. Interdepartmental delegations of the sides are discussing possible agreements on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, its future neutral, non-aligned status, and other issues," he said, "Three face-to-face rounds were held in Belarus, which is the main venue, one in Turkey. Now the negotiations are taking place in video format almost every day".
Russian-Ukrainian talks have been held since February 28, with the Moscow delegation headed by Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Several meetings were held in Belarus, and then the sides continued communicating via video-link. On March 29, a face-to-face round of negotiations took place in Istanbul. On April 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists that Kiev, having walked away from the agreements reached during negotiations in Istanbul, had sent the process into a stalemate.
On April 20, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow had sent Kiev a draft document with clear wording and was awaiting a response. In her turn, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova clarified that this had happened as early as April 15.