A senior Ukrainian official at the peace talks in Istanbul accused Moscow on Friday of introducing “unacceptable demands” that had not been previously discussed, including calls for Kyiv's forces to withdraw from large swaths of territory they control so a complete ceasefire to be implemented.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make official statements, said it seemed as if the Russian delegation "deliberately wants to throw nonstarters on the table in order to walk away from today’s meeting without any results.”
