Ukraine recently expressed hope that its talks with Russia and its demands to end the war will be reached, potentially ending the conflict between the two nations.
According to Reuters, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, recently said that "Russia is already beginning to talk constructively."
"We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this," Podolyak said on Sunday, Reuters reported. "I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days."
The comments by Podolyak come amid an ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine with the fourth round of peace talks between the two nations set to continue on Tuesday.
"Negotiations. 4th round. On peace, ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops & security guarantees. Hard discussion. Although Russia realizes the nonsense of its aggressive actions, it still has a delusion that 19 days of violence against [Ukraine] peaceful cities is the right strategy," Podolyak said on Monday.
According to Reuters, Russian news agency RIA said that Leonid Slutsky, a Russian delegate, made similar comments in regard to the peace talks.
"According to my personal expectations, this progress may grow in the coming days into a joint position of both delegations, into documents for signing," Slutsky said.
During an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Wendy Sherman, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, said that the U.S. was "seeing some signs of a willingness to have real, serious negotiations," from Russia.
"But I have to say, as your reporter said, so far it appears that Vladimir Putin is intent on destroying Ukraine. We need to help Ukrainians in every way we can," Sherman added.
However, on Monday, Podolyak said that "A technical pause" was placed on negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment bud did not receive a response in time for publication.
Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was open to halting military operations in Ukraine if they met a number of demands, such as conceding Crimea to Russia.
Russia has also demanded that Ukraine acknowledges Donetsk and Lugansk as independent territories. Another Russian demand is for Ukraine to be barred from joining NATO.
While negotiations have been paused until Tuesday, fighting continues to take place in numerous cities across Ukraine, since Russia invaded the neighboring country over two weeks ago.
Amid the ongoing fighting between the two nations, Ukrainian officials have continued to ask Western countries and NATO for additional assistance and the implementation of a no-fly zone.
In a tweet on Monday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote, "Close the sky over #Ukraine."
Zelensky made similar comments in a recent video posted to social media, saying "If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory, on NATO territory, on the homes of NATO citizens."
