India could be among three countries from Russia's side as mediator for peace talks with Ukraine, said President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. China and Brazil are the two other countries that could sit on the Russian side for the peace talks.
Putin said that a preliminary agreement reached between negotiator from Russian and Ukrainian side in the first weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented, could serve as the basis for talks, reported Reuters.
Putin made the announcement on Thursday as he said he was ready for talks with Kyiv, after having previously rebuffed the idea of negotiations while Ukraine launched offensive into the Kursk region.
Last month, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the southwestern Kursk region, sending thousands of troops across the border and seizing dozens of towns and villages. After the offensive, Putin said there could be no talk of negotiations with Kyiv.
However, speaking at an event on Thursday, Putin said Moscow was ready for talks but on the basis of the aborted deal between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reached in Istanbul in 2022. The term of the talks were never made public.
"Are we ready to negotiate with them? We have never refused to do so, but not on the basis of some ephemeral demands, but on the basis of those documents that were agreed and actually signed in Istanbul," Putin said, reported AFP.
Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of a deal in the spring that year.
"We managed to reach an agreement, that is the whole point," Putin said. "The signature of the head of the Ukrainian delegation who supported this document testifies to this, which means that the Ukrainian side was generally satisfied with the agreements reached," he said.