Ukraine withdrawing troops from Donbass key to progress in talks — Kremlin aide

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Settlement of the Ukrainian conflict will remain at a standstill even after dozens of rounds of negotiations if the Kiev regime does not withdraw troops from Donbass, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said in comments to Rossiya-1 journalist Pavel Zarubin. "Until [Ukraine] takes this step, we can hold several more rounds, dozens of rounds [of negotiations], but we will remain in exactly the same place, you understand?" the diplomat said. "That is the issue." "And everyone understands this, in Kiev too. But for now, with the support of the Europeans, they refuse to take the reasonable step," Ushakov emphasized. "They refuse even to begin discussing this step," he noted. "They know in Ukraine that this must be done and that sooner or later they will do it anyway," Ushakov added. The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass remains one of Moscow’s key conditions for a substantive settlement with Kiev.