• America
• Visit Article Link

• The Guardian
• Mon Jun 2 2025

12m ago 09.14 CEST Ukraine delegation arrives in Istanbul for talks with Russian officials

A Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Istanbul for talks with Russian officials with a meeting planned for Monday afternoon, the spokesperson for Ukraine?s foreign ministry said.

The two sides are set to hold their second round of direct peace talks since 2022, but are still far apart on how to end the war amid an increase in fighting.

After days of uncertainty over whether Ukraine would even attend, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said defence minister Rustem Umerov would meet Russian officials. The first round of the talks more than a week ago yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the war ? but no sense of any consensus on how to halt the fighting.

The two sides will in Turkey present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, according to US envoy Keith Kellogg, though it is clear that after three years of Russia?s full-scale assault on Ukraine, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart.

Russia?s lead negotiator, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, was quoted by Tass news agency as saying the Russian side had received a memorandum from Ukraine on a settlement. Zelenskyy had complained for days that Russia had failed to provide a memorandum with its proposals.

View image in fullscreen Police officers stand guard ahead of the second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine at Ciragan Palace in Istanbul. Photograph: Murad Sezer/Reuters

In other news: