Putin says talks with Ukraine are at ‘dead end’

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said peace talks with Ukraine are at a “dead end” as Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine.

“Now, security requirements are one thing, and the issues of regulating relations over Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas are taken out of the scope of these agreements. That is, we have again returned to a dead-end situation for ourselves and for all of us,” Putin said at a press conference alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to CNN.

Putin also accused Ukraine of violating agreements previously made during talks in Istanbul — specifically related to conversations regarding Crimea and the Donbas.

“The Ukrainian side actually violated their agreements reached in Istanbul and now they do not want to discuss the issue of Crimea, or the Donbass, and so that’s the … of the agreements,” Putin said, according to a translation from RT.

“And in fact, yesterday evening, they reported to me that the Ukrainian side changed their position again, but this kind of — this changing positions all the time makes it impossible for us to achieve a certain progress, any progress, in the negotiations process,” he added.

Putin’s comment came in the sixth week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, when the Russian president ordered a military operation in Ukraine. The invasion has since been ongoing.

The two sides have engaged in a number of peace talks since the conflict began, but no major breakthroughs have been reached.

In the meantime, however, Russia has maintained its attack in Ukraine. Moscow’s forces have been accused of targeting civilians.

Some were hopeful that an end to the invasion was near following talks in Istanbul late last month, when a Russian official said Moscow would “reduce military action” in northern Ukraine. The Pentagon, however, later said Russia was really “repositioning” its troops.