Medvedev warned of the consequences of disrupting peace talks on Ukraine

The West should remember that the failure of the peace process in Ukraine can lead to an escalation of the conflict. This was announced on May 17 by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council (SB).

According to him, peace negotiations by themselves do not always lead to a cessation of hostilities. Moreover, they carry the risks of conflict moving to a new level.

"Unsuccessful negotiations may lead to the beginning of a more terrible stage of the <conflict> with new weapons and participants," Medvedev wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

Step at the meeting: the results of the first negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in three years

The first round of contacts took place in Istanbul — what's next

A day earlier, the head of the Russian delegation, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, announced the completion of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. According to him, the parties agreed on a prisoner exchange in the ratio of 1,000 to 1,000. The Ukrainian side also offered to hold talks between the leaders of the states, and Russia took this request into account.

Later, on May 17, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Ukrainians should not allow NATO countries to lead them astray from the true path of resolving the current crisis. Zakharova noted that all constructive proposals at the talks in Istanbul, including a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war, came from the Russian side and Russian President Vladimir Putin.