We hope all parties concerned will continue negotiations to reach a fair, lasting, and binding peace agreement acceptable to all sides, to achieve a political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis,” Lin Jian said during a briefing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for skipping peace talks in Turkey, calling the move “unserious” and “disrespectful.” Instead of attending himself, Putin sent aide Vladimir Medinsky,

Russian president Vladimir Putin did not show up in Turkey on Thursday for proposed direct peace talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who was waiting for him in the capital of Ankara after challenging the Kremlin leader to face-to-face discussions on ending their three-year-old war.