(MENAFN) Russian President Vladimir Putin convened a key meeting with his top foreign, defense, intelligence, and military officials ahead of upcoming peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, the Kremlin confirmed Thursday.

"Before the departure of our delegation to Istanbul yesterday evening, President Putin held a meeting on preparations for the upcoming negotiations with the Ukrainian side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in a briefing.

The meeting, held on Wednesday evening, was attended by members of Russia's negotiating team, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Russian Guard head Viktor Zolotov, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoygu, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and Federal Security Service head Alexander Bortnikov.

On Wednesday, Putin also issued a decree outlining the composition of Russia’s delegation for the direct talks with Ukraine, set to take place on Thursday in Istanbul. The order, posted on the Kremlin’s website, confirmed that presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky would lead the delegation, which also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Russian General Staff Director and Main Intelligence Directorate head Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.

The decree further noted the inclusion of experts to support the negotiations.

Earlier peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022 had seen a draft peace agreement come close to agreement, but Ukraine ultimately withdrew from the negotiations. According to Ukrainian delegation leader David Arakhamia, the pullback followed advice from Boris Johnson, who was the UK’s prime minister at the time

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