The Ukrainian presidential spokesman said Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to start ceasefire negotiations with Russia. He claimed that Kiev had contacted the Kremlin about a possible place and date for the talks.
Moscow previously said the Ukrainian leader had "disappeared" after initially agreeing to negotiations.
"I must dispute the claim that we have refused to negotiate," Zelensky spokesman Sergey Nikiforov wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday (26/2/2022). "Ukraine has been and remains ready to talk about a ceasefire and peace," he said, insisting that currently, the parties were consulting about the place and time of the negotiation process.
Kiev also appeared to confirm reports that the Zelensky government had asked Tel Aviv to mediate in talks with the Kremlin. Ukraine's ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, told the New York Times that Tel Aviv had not yet responded.
"They didn't say no. They are trying to find out where they are in this game of chess," he said. "We believe that Israel is the only democratic country in the world that has good relations with Ukraine and Russia."
Shortly before Nikiforov released his statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that Kiev refused to hold negotiations on Friday. He added that Kiev suggested postponing the discussion of the issue until Saturday.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Zelensky had previously suggested the Polish capital, Warsaw, as a venue for talks rather than Minsk, proposed by Moscow, but "disappeared" after that.
The Kremlin spokesman also accused "nationalist elements" in Ukraine of deploying rockets into residential areas around the same time, warning that it could result in civilian casualties.
In a national address Friday morning, Ukraine's president said he was "not afraid to talk to Russia," including about Ukraine's "neutral status" but demanded third-party guarantees.
The Ukrainian leader also said that NATO and European leaders had left Ukraine to fight alone.
Moscow launched a "special military operation" in Donbass on Thursday morning at the request of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) recently recognized independent territories, vowing to demilitarize Ukraine and defend the people from "Ukrainian aggression."
The mission has targeted military sites across Ukraine and Russian troops have since advanced into major cities, reportedly approaching the capital, Kiev.
Western leaders have reacted with a series of harsh sanctions targeting Russian financial institutions, senior officials, lawmakers and media organizations, including the personal punishment of President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
