Ukraine and Russia to hold the first peace talks in three years

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Ukraine and Russia will hold their first direct peace talks on Friday, a meeting in Istanbul for discussions in which the United States and Turkey have mediated amid an international unlawful ceasefire for 30 days.

But the expectations for progress have been low, as Kiev and Moscow are still far apart in the main circumstances to end the war that lasted for Russia and the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that “nothing will happen” in the peace deal of Russia-Ukraine until he and Vladimir Putin meet, hiding the results of the talks.

Previous peace talks collapsed in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, after Kiev revealed the atrocities carried out by the Moscow forces in Boch and other areas Ukraine Russia occupied it in the first weeks of the comprehensive invasion.

The Ukraine delegation, led by Defense Secretary Rostam Omrov, was scheduled to meet with a less presidential team headed by the presidential assistant and former Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinski at 12:30 local time in Istanbul. The talks follow a tense start to the latest diplomatic batch, after Putin refused to meet Ukrainian President Voludmir Zelensky face to face.

But there is a potential meeting between Zelinski and Putin that will be on the agenda of the Ukrainian delegation.

On Thursday, Zellinski met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. The Ukrainian leader rejected the Russian delegation as the “suspended pillars”, as he wonders about the seniority of its members and “whether they can make any decisions.”

However, Zelenskyy said that a ceasefire can be reached if the KYIV and Moscow negotiator on Friday might find a shared ground.

The Ukrainian official in Istanbul said the Kiev team was “ready to work … to achieve tangible results.”

“The question is whether the Russian side is ready for real steps towards peace. So far, Russia has hindered every building effort by Ukraine.”

Andrei Yermak, the Chief of Staff Zelinski, said that he and Olof, along with other Ukrainian officials, met us with a special envoy to the United States, Keith Kelog and UK National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, to implement positions before meeting with Russian death. On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Istanbul met his Ukrainian counterpart Andre Cibha, as well as French and German diplomatic advisers.

“Ukraine is ready for peace, permanent and unconditional stop. We are also ready for meetings and negotiations at the highest level.”

Midinski, head of the Russian delegation, said late on Thursday that his team was “ready to work” after preliminary talks with Turkish officials.

Medinski, who led the Moscow delegation in the last direct talks in Istanbul in early 2022, described his negotiating team flexible and clear to be “based”, but other officials suggested that Russia would not back down from its extreme demands.

Like Umerov, a tale of Crimea and experienced negotiator, Kyiv represents in the first talks in Istanbul three years ago and was part of the Backchannel talks with the Russians on humanitarian issues and the exchange of prisoners.

Senior Turkish officials have been appointed to join the talks of Russia Ukraine.

American envoys were not expected to fulfill the Russian delegation.

Meanwhile, in Kiev, the sirens erupted before dawn, as Russia fired another missile and drone on the Ukrainian capital and other cities. Air Force Ukraine reported that one of the F-16 fighter planes was lost while “carrying out a mission to repel an air attack by the enemy.”

Senior Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times earlier in the week that Russia seemed to be preparing for a greater attack, and the transfer of forces from Kursk and other places to the strategic hot points in the battlefield, rather than indicating the willingness of peace talks.

Deep State, a Ukrainian analytical group close to the Ministry of Defense, said in recent days that the Russian armed forces have seized more land in the eastern Donetsk region, especially around the cities of Flash Boucrufsk, Tertezk, Chasif Yar. The Russians have increased their attack and the amount of lands captured in each of the past three months.

Ukraine managed to prevent a major penetration along the 1,000 -km confrontation line, but has struggled to stop the progress of the Russians. KYIV is likely to have increasing difficulty as it wrestles with the problematic mobilization campaign, weapons and ammunition attached to the United States.