Peace talks on Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul

Peace talks on Ukraine and Russia

Russia-Ukraine peace talks begin in Istanbul amid international attention

Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine between Ukrainian and Russian envoys are expected to begin in Istanbul on Friday, after being postponed from the previous day. Turkish Foreign Ministry sources in Ankara said Thursday evening that the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries in three years will be held with Turkish representatives in attendance.

According to the ministry sources, trilateral talks are planned between the United States, Ukraine, and Turkey, as well as between Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey. The sources added that a four-way meeting between the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey has yet to be decided. The US delegation will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

However, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said later that a trilateral meeting between Ankara, Washington, and Kyiv will be held at 0745 GMT, and another between Türkiye, Russia, and Ukraine at 0930 in Istanbul. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not attend the talks in protest at his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin's refusal to participate. The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected criticism that Moscow had sent only a second-tier delegation.

The West considers Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinskyy, a minor political figure who also participated in fruitless negotiations in 2022 shortly after the war began. Zelenskyy is sending a 12-person team, headed by Defense Minister Rustam Umarov. All other negotiators are deputy heads of intelligence services, senior staff officers, and an advisor to the head of the presidential office.

Kyiv has said that the goal of the talks is to achieve a "just and lasting peace." The specific guidelines are confidential. Umarov, a Crimean Tatar, had already participated in negotiations with Russia shortly after the start of the three-year war, but not as a minister, but as a member of parliament.