The United States (US) representative to the United Nations (UN) told the UN Security Council yesterday that the agreement now being offered to end the war in Ukraine is the best possible outcome for Russia and that President Vladimir Putin should accept it.
"Prolonging the war is in no one's interest," said John Kelly, the acting deputy US representative to the UN, warning that the US could "consider withdrawing" from its negotiating efforts if Russia "makes the wrong decision to continue this disastrous war."
Kelly added that additional sanctions on Russia are still on the table.
The Kremlin had previously said on May 29 that it was awaiting Kiev's response to its proposal for new talks in Istanbul on June 2.
"As far as I know, no response has been received yet... We have to wait for a response from the Ukrainian side," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The chief adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to participate, but that it first wants to see Russia's proposals for ending the war.
"Ukraine is ready to attend the next meeting, but we want to engage in a constructive discussion. This means it is important to get the Russian draft," Andriy Yermak said in a statement.
Peskov called the request "unconstructive."
Ukraine announced that it has already submitted its vision for a peace solution to Russia.
Zelensky accused Russia of engaging in "another deception" by not submitting its peace proposal before the proposed meeting in Istanbul.
"Even the so-called 'memorandum' that they promised and, apparently, have been preparing for more than a week, no one has yet seen. Ukraine did not get it. Our partners did not get it. Even Turkey, which hosted the first meeting, did not get a new agenda," he said. "Despite promises to the contrary, primarily to the United States of America, to President Trump: Another Russian deception," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
Other speakers before the Security Council also addressed the war in Ukraine and the peace process.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, told the Council that hope for negotiations was "barely" alive, and the "cautious hope" she expressed a month ago had vanished in the wake of recent attacks.
The massive wave of attacks over the weekend is a warning of how quickly the war can reach new destructive levels, she said.
"Further escalation would not only worsen the devastating civilian casualties, but would also jeopardize the already challenging peace efforts. The hope that foreign powers will sit down and negotiate is still alive, but barely," DiCarlo said.
She called for "serious, demonstrable and good faith efforts" to get back on a path that could lead to a just peace.
DiCarlo added that the peace process will not be easy and will take time.
"But it cannot wait. The people of Ukraine, especially, cannot wait," she said.
She said that a complete, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is a step that must be part of the peace process.
Russia has said it will use the June 2 meeting to present a "memorandum" outlining its conditions for a peace settlement.
"Our delegation, led by Vladimir Medinsky, is ready to present the memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation and provide the necessary explanations during the second round of direct negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, June 2," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a statement on May 28.
Lavrov said the memorandum would outline Russia's views "on all aspects of reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis."
Medinsky, a Russian political scientist and former culture minister, led the Russian negotiating team on May 16 during the first round of direct talks in more than three years since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lavrov and welcomed the prisoner exchange over the weekend, spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
"The Secretary of State reiterated President Trump's calls for constructive, good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path to ending this war," Bruce said.
US President Donald Trump warned on May 28 that he would determine within "about two weeks" whether Putin was serious about ending the fighting.
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