Russia has no intention to delay talks on Ukraine: Kremlin

Moscow, July 1 (IANS) Russia is not interested in stalling negotiations on Ukraine and aims to achieve its goals by political and diplomatic means, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

Peskov said it takes time to implement the agreements reached in the first two rounds of direct talks with Ukraine, including prisoner exchanges and the transfer of the bodies of fallen soldiers.

"Objectively, it is difficult to talk about the possibility of any strong acceleration," he said, adding that nobody stops or slows down the work on implementing the agreements, Xinhua news agency reported.

Peskov's comment came after US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Monday that "Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine."

Russia and Ukraine held two rounds of direct talks on May 16 and June 2, respectively, in Istanbul, Turkey. During the second round of talks, they agreed on an "all-for-all" exchange of seriously ill and wounded prisoners, and soldiers under the age of 25, as well as the transfer of the bodies of fallen soldiers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to hold the third round of talks after completing the exchanges.

He made the remark on Friday after the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Minsk.

Putin told reporters that Russia is ready for new round of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, noting that the time and place of the third-round talks need to be agreed on.

The draft memoranda between Russia and Ukraine on the settlement should become the subject of discussion during the third round of negotiations, Putin said.

--IANS

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