Kremlin: Talks with Ukraine are not moving fast enough

The Kremlin said today that peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv were not progressing as fast or vigorously as they would have liked.

Russia has accused the West of trying to derail peace talks with Ukraine, sparking a "hysteria" over reports of war crimes committed by Moscow forces following their withdrawal from the Kiev region.

Kyiv and the West say there is evidence, including images and eyewitness accounts gathered by Reuters and other media outlets, that Russia committed war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Butsa. Moscow denies the allegations and has called the allegations "misconceptions."

"The only thing I can say is that the work (for the talks) is continuing," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov told reporters in a teleconference, answering a question about the prospect of a new round of talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

"There is still a long way to go. The work process continues but goes slower than we would like ".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow believed the war crimes charges had been made in order to derail the negotiation process.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24 in what it called a special military operation to downgrade its neighbor's military capability and eliminate what it called dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian forces put up strong resistance, and the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in a bid to force it to withdraw its forces.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ-Reuters