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US hopes for resumption of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul — White House

The spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt emphasized that, as far as she knows, the US is not sending a delegation to Turkey for these talks

WASHINGTON, May 29. /TASS/. The US administration is hoping for the resumption of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul next week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing.

"It is our hope that Russia and Ukraine will engage in direct talks and negotiations next week in Istanbul, and we believe that meeting is going to take place, and that is a meeting the President encouraged and urged for these two sides to come together and negotiate directly," she noted.

The spokeswoman emphasized that, as far as she knows, the US is not sending a delegation to Turkey for these talks. "We will let you know if the President plans to send a representative, I'm not tracking that at this time," she added.

"And the President has been clear from the very beginning of this conflict that he wants to see this conflict solved on the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. And he's told that to both leaders again, both publicly and privately, so hopefully next week, it will move the ball forward," Leavitt noted.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow’s delegation led by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky was ready to present to Ukraine Russia’s memorandum on ways to address the root causes of the crisis in Istanbul on June 2.

The previous round of negotiations took place on May 16 and resulted in agreements to swap the prisoners of war under a "1,000 for 1,000" formula, present the concept of the potential future ceasefire, outlining it in detail, as well as continue the negotiation process. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the meeting’s outcome.

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