Russian and Ukrainian officials who gave addresses at separate events in Turkey this weekend said there were ongoing violations of the ceasefire for energy infrastructure agreed to last month.
Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, “The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions.”
Last month, following US-mediated talks in Saudi Arabia, Russia and Ukraine agreed to implement a 30-day pause on attacking energy infrastructure, and to restart the Black Sea Initiative, which allows for commercial shipping in the Black Sea.
Following Lavrov’s remarks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha argued Moscow does not want a peace deal as Russia has fired “almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 (exploding) drones, and over 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly at civilians.”
On Sunday, Russian missiles struck Sumy University, killing 31. While the reported target was a military ceremony, children and other civilians were also killed by the strike. At least one missile did not hit the military ceremony, landing on the street.
Though US diplomacy with Moscow and Kiev has seen little progress toward ending the conflict, the Kremlin says bilateral talks with US officials are moving in a positive direction.
After American and Russian diplomats met in Turkey last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told television host Pavel Zarubin that “In fact, everything is moving ahead very well.”
He added, “Resurrecting relations basically from scratch is a very complicated thing to do. It requires very intense diplomatic and other efforts.”
“The whole path consists of small steps to recreate an atmosphere of at least minimal mutual trust, to strengthen this mutual trust,” Peskov said. “This is what is being done now … by the special services. Communication is taking place between the Foreign Ministry and the State Department.”
However, President Donald Trump has demanded the Kremlin accelerate the pace of diplomacy. In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump said that “Russia has to get moving. Too many people are DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.”
