The bloc could derail the peace process once again, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned

Kiev would have a better chance of resolving the conflict with Russia if it resists malignant NATO influence that impedes peace efforts, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

Zakharova responded to remarks by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga about the results of the Istanbul meeting, which marked the first direct negotiations between Kiev and Moscow since 2022. The talks resulted in Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a major prisoner swap. The sides also agreed to exchange lists of conditions for a potential ceasefire and discuss a follow-up meeting.

"If we put aside all the Russian nonsense, pseudo-historical statements, provocations, and so on, the bottom line is this: we managed to agree on the return of 1,000 of our people. These are 1,000 happy families. Even for this reason alone, all this made sense," Sibiga said.

"All 'this,'" Zakharova said, referring to the talks, "was proposed by Russia - by its president - and implemented by a delegation authorized by the head of state, which Zelensky mocked for a day."

She also noted that, if all the insults are put aside, Sibiga essentially acknowledged that the "Russian propositions have a certain sense." "The main thing is that the citizens of Ukraine should not allow the 'NATO advisers' to lead them off the true path of settlement into the ravine of other people's interests again," Zakharova warned.

Russia and Ukraine held direct peace talks in Istanbul in 2022, shortly after the escalation of the conflict. While the sides initially made progress and reached a tentative agreement - which included a Ukrainian commitment to neutrality - the talks later collapsed after Kiev unilaterally abandoned them.

Moscow later claimed the talks were derailed by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who advised Kiev to continue fighting. While Johnson has denied the accusation, David Arakhamia, who led the Ukrainian delegation at the time, admitted that the ex-prime minister played an influential role in the decision to stop the negotiating process.

Since then, Russia has repeatedly accused Western governments of using Ukraine as a "battering ram" against Russia and pursuing the conflict "until the last Ukrainian." It has noted, however, that the US began shifting its approach to the settlement under President Donald Trump.

(RT.com)