ANKARA, June 26. /TASS/. Moscow is grateful for Turkey's gracious offer to host negotiations on a settlement in Ukraine, said Russian Ambassador to Ankara Sergey Vershinin to CNN Turk.

"We are sincerely grateful to the Turkish side for its efforts and commitment to achieving a lasting and reliable solution in Ukraine. President [Vladimir] Putin has clearly stated that we are ready to resume and continue these negotiations from the point where they were interrupted in Istanbul in 2022. We appreciate Turkey's willingness to provide Istanbul as a venue, which we consider extremely suitable for continuing our negotiating contacts. We have never ruled out political and diplomatic solutions and opportunities," the diplomat said.

Putin said last Tuesday that Russia was ready for peace talks with Ukraine based on the agreements reached in Istanbul in March 2022. They were broken off by Ukraine.

Last year, three rounds of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations were held in Istanbul. Turkey has many times said it was ready to provide a platform for negotiations and a summit on Ukraine again.