Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov expressed the opinion that Kyiv’s refusal to continue negotiations in Istanbul in 2022 was due to direct pressure from London. He stated this in response to questions from journalists.

“The document was actually initialed, and everyone knows what exactly was the reason for the Ukrainians’ refusal to finalize it further. It was direct pressure from London.”,” Peskov emphasized.

He noted that this information comes from the participants in the negotiations and was voiced by David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Arakhamia previously stated that the fighting in Ukraine could have ended in the spring of 2022 if not for Ukraine’s renunciation of neutrality after negotiations. According to him, after the meeting in Istanbul, then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv and called on the Ukrainian leadership not to sign anything and to continue fighting.