World News: Russia pullout must ‘before any dialogue’ – Gulf Digital News

World News: Russia pullout must ‘before any dialogue’ – Gulf Digital News

KYIV/ISTANBUL: Ukraine yesterday dismissed comments by ex-German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that Russia wanted a “negotiated solution” to the war and said any dialogue would be contingent on a Russian ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Schroeder, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and increasingly derided in Germany for his pro-Russia stance, said last month’s agreement on grain shipments from Ukraine, aimed at easing a global food crisis, might offer a way forward.

The first grain ship since the war started passed through the Bosphorus Strait yesterday en route to Lebanon.

“The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution,” Schroeder told Stern weekly and broadcasters RTL/ntv, adding he had met Putin in Moscow last week. “A first success is the grain deal, perhaps that can be slowly expanded to a ceasefire.”

In response, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described Schroeder as a “voice of the Russian royal court” and made clear that the grain agreement would not lead to negotiations.

“If Moscow wants dialogue, the ball is in its court. First – a cease-fire and withdrawal of troops, then – constructive (dialogue),” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

The grain agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, has been hailed as a rare