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Volodymyr Zelenskyy sends team led by defence minister for talks with Russian delegation in Turkiye’s Istanbul.
Published On 15 May 2025
Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, both countries have said, but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkiye.
Zelenskyy said he was sending a team headed by his defence minister to Istanbul for the talks, even as he said that the Russian delegation did not include “anyone who actually makes decisions”, accusing Moscow of not making efforts to end the war.
Zelenskyy’s announcement on Thursday came after the Kremlin said Putin had no intention to meet with him in Turkiye, sending instead a junior delegation for the planned talks – a move that Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said was “like a slap in the face”.
Putin’s absence punctured hopes of a breakthrough in ceasefire efforts that were pushed in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect that some of Ukraine’s allies could impose more sanctions on Russia.
The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov with the aim “to attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war – namely, a ceasefire”, Zelenskyy said.
Russia’s team is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister, who said that he viewed talks with Kyiv as a “continuation” of failed negotiations in 2022.
The terms under discussion back then, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia’s initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for deep cuts to the size of Ukraine’s military.
Medinsky said on Telegram that his team had held “productive” talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday evening, adding that he expected Ukraine’s representatives to turn up for discussions in Istanbul on Friday at 10am local time (07:00 GMT).
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting in front of the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara, said Zelenskyy chose a delegation “in equilibrium” with the Russian one.
“He said they didn’t mind taking the first step towards an immediate ceasefire that is necessary for direct peace talks,” she said.
Still, “there won’t be any negotiations, and Zelenskyy underlined that even his delegation has no mandate to decide anything. So tomorrow, it is probably going to be technical talks between the two delegations,” she added.
US President Trump, who had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Istanbul, brushed off Putin’s absence from the talks.
“Nothing’s going to happen until Russian President Vladimir Putin and I get together, OK?” Trump said on board Air Force One just before landing in Dubai on the third stop of his Middle East trip. “I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Antalya that he would travel to Istanbul for meetings with Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation.
Source
:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
English (US) ·