Ukraine terminates Istanbul agreements after consultations with US

Former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland has said that Ukraine terminated the Istanbul agreements reached with Russia in 2022 following consultations with the US.

Nuland made the remarks in an interview with journalist Mikhail Zygar, Caliber.Az reports.

“The Turks offered a platform and we weren't even in the room. In fact, we were not very aware of the details of the deal. But towards the end of the negotiations, the Ukrainians wanted to consult about where things were even going (...) The Ukrainian delegation started asking questions about whether the deal was a good one. And it was at this very moment that it fell apart,” the politician said.

Nuland also added that from the US point of view, the details of the agreement were allegedly favourable to the Ukrainian side.

According to her, many politicians in Ukraine were aware of this fact and did not want to fulfil the agreements reached.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West and Ukraine refused to conclude the Istanbul agreements in 2022 for the sake of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia. The Russian leader said that Kyiv had abandoned the draft peace agreement discussed in Istanbul solely because of the West. He also stressed that Russia was not giving up negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict.