ASTANA, October 14. /TASS/. Ukraine altered its stance on negotiations with Russia as soon as Russian troops withdrew from Kiev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"On my part, as you know, when I spoke about making a decision on constituent members of the Federation, I said that we were open and were always open [for negotiations]," Putin told journalists.
"We even achieved certain accords in Istanbul and these accords were actually almost initialed. As soon as the [Russian] troops withdrew from Kiev, the Ukrainian authorities immediately lost the desire to hold the negotiations and that is what happened. If they get ready for that, then, perhaps, the mediatory efforts of all interested parties will be needed," the Russian leader said.
"They [the Kiev regime] kept saying all the time that they wanted negotiations and seemed to request them and now they have officially made a decision that bans holding these negotiations. So can there be any talk in this situation?" Putin said.
Commenting on the potential mediatory role of China and India at negotiations with Ukraine, Putin said that Beijing and New Delhi always talked about the need to build a dialogue and solve the conflict peacefully.
"We know their position. These are our close allies and partners and we respect their position," the Russian leader stressed.