Medinsky said that Kyiv was close to concluding a peace treaty in 2022

Ukraine was close to concluding a peace treaty with Russia in negotiations in 2022, declared Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO) Vladimir Medinsky.

“Russia, not in words, but in deeds, was ready for a peaceful solution. Moreover, Kyiv was, in general, close to such a decision. But such a decision absolutely did not suit the curators of Ukraine in the West. <...> they absolutely deliberately went to frustrate the negotiation process,” the presidential aide said in an interview with TASS.

According to Medinsky, the Ukrainian delegation did not hide the coordination of its decisions with the West. Therefore, last year’s initialed agreement with Kiev, which showed Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with representatives of African countries on June 17 is not a revelation for the West.

Since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine, the parties have held negotiations several times. The first three face-to-face meetings took place in Belarus in February-March last year, and the fourth round of the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue was held on March 29 in Istanbul. Later, the process was frozen, since Kyiv withdrew from it.

Mid-March 2022 Medinsky named Moscow’s goal in the negotiations is “a peaceful, free, independent Ukraine.” “Neutral is not a member of military blocs, not a member of NATO, a country that is our friend, neighbor, with which we are developing relations together,” the presidential aide said at the time.