How did the Kremlin react to Zelensky's statement?

On July 18, Head of State Volodymyr Zelensky appointed former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Revealing Umerov's main goals in this position, the Ukrainian leader emphasized that it is necessary to "activate the negotiation track" with Russia.

The implementation of the agreements of the second meeting in Istanbul is currently underway. More dynamics are needed in this process.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine

The Russian dictator's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, immediately responded to Volodymyr Zelensky's statement about the need to intensify the negotiation track.

This is a positive signal. And here we absolutely agree: indeed, we are also supporters of adding dynamics to the negotiation process, the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.

Interestingly, Putin's team recently cynically began demanding that Donald Trump increase pressure on Kyiv to supposedly continue peace talks to end the war.

The last meetings between the delegations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine took place on May 16 and June 2 in Istanbul.