The Federation Council named Kiev's goal at the talks in Istanbul

Andrei Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs of the Russian Federation, said that Kiev is trying to please US President Donald Trump and conduct some kind of imitation of negotiations with Russia.

"Negotiations with Kiev could have been more constructive if the Kiev regime had considered it possible to understand the futility of armed resistance. Then a wider field for the negotiation process would open up ... <...> Personally, it seems to me that Kiev is now only doing something to please Donald Trump and conduct some kind of imitation of negotiations. That's probably what I think we'll see," Klimov said in an interview with aif.ru on Wednesday, July 23rd.

The senator noted that, unfortunately, the Ukrainian side still adheres to positions that Russia considers a direct threat to its security and considers unacceptable.

Klimov stressed that Moscow intends to continue military operations until the goals are achieved, but at the same time does not exclude a political settlement of the conflict.

In our opinion, Moscow will rely on its interests in negotiations with Kiev.

How will Trump's ultimatum affect the new round of meetings

The next third round of negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine began on the evening of July 23 in Istanbul. The meeting takes place at the Chiragan Palace.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at the opening of the talks that Turkey is ready to continue doing everything possible to advance the process of resolving the conflict in Ukraine within the framework of what the parties have come to. Fidan also added that Ankara is pleased to note that the international community highly appreciates the results of the first two rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. After that, the discussion went into a closed mode, writes "Moscow 24".

The composition of the Russian delegation has not changed, RT clarifies. It still includes Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. The Ukrainian delegation has been expanded to 14 people, it is headed by former Minister of Defense, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Rustem Umerov, the website clarifies. kp.ru .

Before the meeting of the delegations, Medinsky and Umerov held a one-on-one bilateral meeting.

The first talks in three years between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on May 16. The parties agreed to prepare mutual settlement proposals. At a meeting on June 2, they exchanged memoranda on a peaceful solution to the conflict, IA Regnum reports.