ASTANA. July 4 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin still believes that the Istanbul Agreements could lay the basis for Ukraine peace talks.
"As known, Russia has never refused to negotiate and stands ready to continue peace talks. It was Ukraine that rejected the talks, it made so publicly on direct orders from London, which means there is no doubt about that, and from Washington, which Ukrainian officials have been loud and clear about," Putin said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana.
He thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for mediating the Istanbul Agreements for Ukraine and said, "These agreements have not gone away, the Ukrainian delegation head initialed them, so, apparently, they suited Ukraine just fine. The agreements, the Istanbul Agreements, remain on the table and lay the basis for the continuation of talks."
He thanked summit participants for their "sincere and specific proposals on a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis" that stems from "the completely unceremonious policy of the United States and its satellites."