A Ukrainian delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov sat down with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi
Turkish, US and Ukrainian delegations attend a meeting for Ukraine-Russia peace talks at the Turkish Presidential office in Istanbul. Pic/AFP
Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years on Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov sat down with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi. The officials present sat around a U-shaped table, with the Russians and Ukrainians facing each other.
A senior Ukrainian official close to the talks said that Kyiv’s delegation was prepared to “achieve a lot” and with a real mandate to resolve key issues. The official said the outcome hinges on whether Moscow is equally serious.
Both countries have tried to persuade US President Donald Trump, who has expressed frustration over the slow progress and threatened to punish foot-dragging, that they are eager to resolve the conflict amid extensive diplomatic maneuvering.
The latest push to end the fighting got off to a rocky start on Thursday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to meet face-to-face. Delegations from the two countries also flew to different Turkish cities and put together teams of significantly different diplomatic heft for possible talks.
Meantime, Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.
Trump intervention
The two sides are far apart in their conditions for ending the war, and Trump said Thursday during a trip to the Middle East that a meeting between himself and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock. On Friday, Trump said a meeting with Putin would happen “as soon as we can set it up. I think it’s time for us to just do it”.
Comments on Friday by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov appeared to indicate that momentum for a summit is building, but it would take time. Ukraine has accepted a US and European proposal for a full, 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has effectively rejected it by imposing far-reaching conditions.
Flurry of diplomatic activity
Ukrainian officials held an early-morning meeting with national security advisers from the US, France, Germany and the UK to coordinate positions, a senior Ukrainian official said. The US team was led by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, while Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and presidential office chief Andriy Yermak represented Ukraine.
A three-way meeting between Turkey, the US and Ukraine also took place. The US side included Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Kellogg.
EU leaders meet
Ukrain’s President Zelensky skipped talks in Istanbul and joined the leaders of 47 European countries and organisations for a one-day summit in Albania’s capital on Friday to discuss security and defence challenges across the continent.
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