MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) - Russia stands ready to continue direct contacts with Ukraine on the basis of the 2022 Istanbul agreements but also taking the new realities on the ground into consideration, Russian Federation Council Deputy Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"The composition of the Russian delegation to Istanbul speaks volumes. The first thing is retaining the continuity and consistency of our approaches to settling the Ukraine crisis. Russia is ready to continue direct contacts with Kiev on the basis of the agreements drawn up in Istanbul in 2022, based on what was achieved back then, but certainly taking into account the new realities on the ground over the three subsequent years," Kosachyov said on his Telegram channel.
The members of the Russian delegation are truly competent people, and "Russia is ready for concrete, substantive, practical and productive discussion," he said.
"A Zelensky-style show to attract publicity is ruled out by definition - it's either this way or will not happen at all," he said.
Russia's conditions are well known, and there should be no doubt about the Russian negotiators' mandate after yesterday's meeting with the president, Kosachyov said.
There is dynamics in the situation around the Ukraine settlement process, "and its outcome will certainly be decided not by the united Europe, which clearly is on the sidelines now," he said.
"The outcome will be decided in the capitals east and west of Europe, which failed to conquer the divide and rule temptation, which means that it failed to find its place and role in the rapidly changing world," he said.
Kosachyov wished the Russian negotiators "good luck, fortitude, perseverance and confidence in victory."
Direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations are expected to start in Istanbul on Thursday.
The Russian delegation to them will be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also headed the Russian group of negotiators in Istanbul in the spring of 2022.