MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Kiev has officially halted peace talks with Moscow, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa said on Wednesday.

"Since the peace talks ended this year without significant progress, they were halted," Liga.net web portal quoted Kislitsa as saying.

Russia has repeatedly stated its readiness to continue negotiations with Ukraine and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated this in early September. The Russian top diplomat emphasized that the diplomatic settlement of the crisis in Ukraine remained a priority for Russia and the sides achieved some progress in this regard during three rounds of direct negotiations earlier in the year.

Alexey Polishchuk, director of the Second Department of CIS countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told TASS earlier in the day that Russia is willing to resume the negotiation process in Istanbul with Ukraine, and the ball is in Ukraine’s court.

The first round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine was held in Istanbul on May 16, where the sides agreed on exchanging prisoners on the "1,000 for 1,000" formula and submitting memorandums on the aspects of overcoming the crisis.

The second round of resumed direct negotiations was also held in Istanbul on June 2. Following it, the sides exchanged peace terms as well as agreed on exchanging severely injured prisoners of war and the bodies of deceased servicemen. Moscow also handed over to Kiev several thousand bodies of fallen soldiers.

A third round of direct Russia-Ukraine talks on the Ukrainian settlement took place in Istanbul on July 23. Before a collective meeting, delegation heads Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, held a one-on-one conversation. The collective meeting lasted about 40 minutes during which the sides discussed the positions outlined in draft memorandums.