Delegations of Russia (L) and Ukraine at the talks in the Gomel region, Belarus on February 28, 2022. (File photo: AFP/VNA)

Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said in an interview on Belarusian TV that Russia is ready to continue the dialogue and freezing the talks was entirely Ukraine's initiative, and that Russia has never refused to talk. 

Earlier this month, Alexey Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry said peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were stagnant. 

Zaitsev said that NATO countries, while advocating for a prompt cessation of hostilities, are doing everything they can to prevent that by supplying arms to Ukraine.