Russia says peace talks with Ukraine moving slowly

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia said on Friday that the peace talks with Ukraine are progressing slowly.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the negotiations stalled because Ukraine does not reply to Russia's latest proposal.

"We were holding talks, now they have stalled because five days ago we handed another proposal to the Ukrainian negotiators, which was formulated taking into account the comments we received from them. At that moment, this proposal remains unanswered," he said.

He then quoted the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who earlier said he did not see the last version of the draft of the peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine, expressing his surprise that the Ukrainian leader was not informed.

"Far be it from me to say how much he knows about the situation, but this is just an illustration of how the process, called 'peace talks,' is proceeding," Lavrov said.

At least 2,435 civilians have been killed and 2,946 injured in Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure believed to be much higher.

More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with over 7.7 million more internally displaced, said the UN refugee agency.