The talks lasted less than two hours. Reuters quoted a Ukrainian source in the delegation as saying that Russia had made unrealistic demands, such as the withdrawal of troops.
Russia demanded that representatives of the United States and Turkey be removed from the meeting. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, had a conversation with a US representative before meeting with the Ukrainian side, BBC reports.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that ‘we must use the opportunity to move towards peace’, Anadolu quoted him as saying.
According to Suspilne, the Ukrainian delegation is communicating with the Russian delegation through an interpreter.
The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. The negotiators include 11 other people, including First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya and a representative of the Defence Ministry's Defence Intelligence Service, Vadym Skibitskyy.
Russia sent much lower-level people to the talks. The delegation was headed by Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky, and included Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the General Staff Igor Kostiukov, and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin. In addition to them, Moscow sent more ‘experts’.
The topic that Ukraine is ready to discuss is a complete ceasefire for 30 days. Umerov also said that peace is possible only if all are exchanged for all and deported children are returned. According to media reports, a meeting between the Ukrainian president and Putin was also to be discussed.
The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, noted that, apart from the venue, today's meeting has nothing to do with the 2022 talks.
Previous negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
Since the spring of 2022, Ukraine and Russia have not held talks to resolve the war. As long as the negotiating rounds were ongoing, Russia did not stop committing atrocities and attacking Ukrainian settlements. The last round of negotiations took place on 15 April 2022, after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kyiv Region and the recording of war crimes committed by the Russian occupiers. The draft discussed by the parties stated that Ukraine should become a ‘permanently neutral state that will not participate in military blocs’ but may join the EU. Crimea and the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions were to remain under Russia's de facto control. The guarantor countries would be the UK, China, Russia, the US and France.
Ukraine's negotiators told LB that ‘we had to buy time until our partners in the West came to their senses and started making decisions that helped us survive. That's why we tried to engage the Russians in some discussions about the details that they had to constantly coordinate with Moscow.’
Earlier this year, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations were in Saudi Arabia at the same time, but did not communicate with each other. US representatives took turns talking to both.
Talks in Istanbul
A Ukrainian delegation headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Ankara yesterday for top-level talks. Russia, on the other hand, sent a negotiating team headed by a Putin aide to meet with Ukraine.
Zelenskyy called the composition of the Russian group a sham and expressed doubt that these people were authorised to make decisions. However, out of respect for the US, which insisted on the meeting, and for Turkey, which organised it, the president sent a delegation to Istanbul. It was headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and included more than 10 other people.
The topic that Ukraine is ready to discuss is a 30-day ceasefire.
Russia believes that these talks are a continuation of previous contacts that took place in Turkey in 2022.
Putin did not come, despite Zelenskyy's invitation. Donald Trump attributes this to his failure to attend. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also convinced that no success can be achieved without a meeting between the American and Russian presidents.
A trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the US and Turkey took place this morning. The Ukrainian side was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the head of the Presidential Administration, while the US side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ukraine also met with Keith Kellogg from the US and advisers to the heads of France, Germany and the UK to agree on positions before talking to the occupiers.