“The negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul were conducted in Russian,” – Zakharova said

The Russian Foreign Ministry claims that during negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey, the talks were conducted in Russian, with the Ukrainian delegation only reading its opening statement in English.

This was stated by Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during a briefing.

According to the diplomat, the Russian representatives spoke in Russian, and their words were simultaneously translated into several languages: English, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

“Who the Ukrainian translation was for is unclear — because the Ukrainian delegation spoke in Russian,” she said.

Zakharova also accused the Ukrainian authorities of ‘stealing the Russian language’ from their own citizens.

“The Ukrainian authorities are stealing the Russian language from their citizens, yet during official negotiations they themselves speak Russian,” she noted during the briefing.

For context, Ukrainian media reported on the day of the negotiations that Ukraine was using a translator. Russian sources, however, denied this.