Kremlin says no progress in negotiations yet and rejects the UN court order 

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – THURSDAY, 17 MARCH 2022, 12:13

The Presidential Administration of Russia claims that there has been no progress in the negotiations yet and they don’t take orders from the International Court of Justice.

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian president, said that Russia and Ukraine had not come close to signing any agreements.

Source: RIA Novosti and Interfax, citing Dmitry Peskov

Peskov, when asked whether Russia and Ukraine were close to signing agreements, said: "No, the work continues. When there is progress, we will inform you."

Details: Vladimir Putin's press secretary also said that Russia "cannot take into account" the decision of the International Court of Justice, which ordered Russia to suspend military operations in Ukraine immediately.

"No, we cannot take this decision into account. The International Court of Justice has a concept of "consent of the States". There can be no agreement here… In this case, it is something we cannot take into account," the Kremlin representative said.

Commenting on the draft "peace deal" between Ukraine and Russia, published by the Financial Times, Peskov said that in that article, "the pieces are correct, but overall it is incorrect."

"The article consists of many different pieces of information that have been discussed and made public. However, everything was compiled wrong, and the meaning of it is wrong. There are correct elements, but the article generally does not correspond to reality", said Peskov.

Background: On 16 March, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered Russia to suspend military operations in Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. These operations were supposed to be for "prevention and punishment" for the alleged genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine.

Also, on Wednesday, the Financial Times, citing three sources involved in the talks, reported that Ukraine and Russia were discussing a 15-point peace deal. The deal would include Kyiv's announcement that it renounces joining NATO in exchange for security guarantees from allies and the withdrawal of Russian troops, who have invaded Ukrainian territory starting on 24 February.

Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that the draft "peace deal" published by the Financial Times was nothing more than a request from the Russian side.

Podoliak also expressed confidence that a ceasefire would be reached in the coming days. According to him, members of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations are discussing documents that the presidents of Ukraine and Russia can sign.

PHOTO CAPTURE: DMITRY PESKOV AND VLADIMIR PUTIN, GETTY IMAGES