World Watches as Russia–Ukraine Delegations Prepare for Talks

According to TASS, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Vladimir Medinsky and the Russian delegation yesterday at the presidential office in Dolmabahce, Orda.kz reports.

The Turkish side is also represented by Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın, and chief adviser on foreign policy and security Akif Çağatay Kılıç.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is currently in Ankara, had called on Putin to attend the talks in person. However, Putin sent a delegation led by his aide Medinsky, joined by Generals Igor Kostyukov and Alexander Zorin, representing Russian military intelligence.

Zelenskyy has publicly criticized the composition of the Russian delegation. Ukraine’s team, by contrast, includes Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Head of the SBU Oleksandr Pohlyad, and other high-ranking officials from the military and security services.

Speaking yesterday during a press conference in Ankara following his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Zelenskyy questioned Moscow’s seriousness regarding the peace process.

If Putin is ready for direct negotiations, let's meet. We are here (in Ankara), but he is neither here nor in Istanbul. We cannot run around the world and look for him,
 BBC quoted the Ukrainian President as saying.

Zelenskyy also reaffirmed that Ukraine would not trade territory for peace:

He called for continued international pressure on Moscow:

The pressure cannot be only in one direction, so we want to see pressure on Russia from Europe, the US and other countries, at least in the form of sanctions.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Medinsky said Russia sees the discussions as a continuation of the Istanbul peace process that was halted in 2022.

Our official delegation has been approved by the presidential decree and has all the necessary powers to conduct negotiations. We are committed to a constructive approach, to finding possible solutions and points of contact. The goal of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side is to establish long-term peace and eliminate the underlying causes of the conflict,
the Russian Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying. 

According to Reuters, hopes for a breakthrough have been diminished by comments from Donald Trump, who said no real progress would be made without a direct meeting between him and Putin.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters in Türkiye, also expressed skepticism, stating that only direct talks between Trump and Putin could lead to a major shift in the conflict.

Original Author: Oksana Matvienko