Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Sunday that Russia is ready to continue talks with Ukraine, which were frozen at Kyiv's initiative.
"We, for our part, are ready to continue the dialogue, but I would like to stress that the ball for further peace talks is in the Ukrainian court," he said in an interview with Belarusian television, reported by the Russian news agency "TASS."
"Russia has never refused talks, including at the highest level, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that. The thing is that there is a need for serious preparations for a high-level meeting, a meeting between the two presidents," he added.
He explained that "heads of state should meet to reach final agreements and sign documents, but not to take pictures."
A month ago, the Russian side sent the Ukrainian side a draft agreement, and a number of key positions have already been agreed upon, according to Medinsky.
"We wanted to move forward, but since then we have not seen any intention to continue dialogue on the part of Ukraine, so our negotiators have stopped," he said.
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