Russia has stated it’s sending a delegation to Istanbul for a second spherical of peace talks with Ukraine on 2 June, as the 2 sides reportedly stay far aside on find out how to finish the struggle.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Moscow’s circumstances for a ceasefire could be mentioned in Turkey. Russia is but to ship its proposals to Ukraine – a key demand by Kyiv.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov stated on Thursday he had handed over his nation’s proposals to Russia, reaffirming “readiness for a full and unconditional ceasefire”.
The primary spherical of talks in Istanbul on 16 Could introduced no breakthrough, apart from a prisoner of struggle swap – the largest alternate since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
On Friday, Ukrainian Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha reiterated that Kyiv had already despatched its personal “imaginative and prescient of future steps” to Russia, including Moscow “should settle for an unconditional ceasefire” to pave the best way for broader negotiations.
“We’re keen on seeing these conferences proceed as a result of we would like the struggle to finish this yr,” Sybiha stated throughout a joint press convention along with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
If the talks go forward on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky usually are not anticipated to attend.
However Fidan stated Turkey hoped to ultimately host a high-level summit.
“We sincerely assume it’s time to carry President Trump, President Putin and President Zelensky to the desk,” he stated.
Peskov stated Russia’s ceasefire proposals wouldn’t be made public, and Moscow would solely entertain the concept of a high-level summit if significant progress was achieved in preliminary discussions between the 2 nations.
He welcomed feedback made by Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, retired Gen Keith Kellogg, who described Russian issues over Nato enlargement as “truthful”.
Gen Kellogg stated Ukraine becoming a member of the army alliance, lengthy hoped for by Kyiv, was not on the desk.
He added President Trump was “annoyed” by what he described as Russia’s intransigence, however emphasised the necessity to hold negotiations alive.
On 19 Could, Trump and Putin had a two-hour telephone name to debate a US-proposed ceasefire deal to halt the combating.
The US president stated he believed the decision had gone “very nicely”, including that Russia and Ukraine would “instantly begin” negotiations in direction of a ceasefire and “an finish to the struggle”.
Ukraine has publicly agreed to a 30-day ceasefire however Putin has solely stated Russia will work with Ukraine to craft a “memorandum” on a “potential future peace” – a transfer described by Kyiv and its European allies as delaying ways so Russian troops might seize extra Ukrainian territory.
In a uncommon rebuke to Putin simply days later, Trump known as the Kremlin chief “completely loopy” and threatened US sanctions. His feedback adopted Moscow’s largest drone and missile assaults on Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, instructed Zelensky that Berlin would assist Kyiv produce long-range missiles to defend itself from future Russian assaults.
The Kremlin stated any resolution to finish vary restrictions on the missiles Ukraine might use would symbolize a harmful change in coverage that might hurt efforts to carry an finish to the struggle.
Moscow at present controls 20% of Ukraine’s internationally-recognised territory, together with the southern peninsula of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
