Kremlin confirms forthcoming Russia-Ukraine discussions

(MENAFN) Russia and Ukraine are set to begin a new round of bilateral peace talks in Istanbul on Wednesday evening, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. The meeting, scheduled for 7 PM Moscow time (16:00 GMT), will be the third formal negotiation between the two sides since the conflict began.

Peskov confirmed that the Russian delegation, led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, has already arrived in Türkiye. He said the talks would primarily center on draft agreements exchanged during the previous round and focus on furthering the ongoing process of prisoner-of-war exchanges.

When asked about the potential outcome of the negotiations, Peskov remained cautious, saying, “This will be a very difficult conversation” and noting that the two sides hold fundamentally opposing positions.

He also stated that it would be premature to discuss a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky until the delegations make meaningful progress.

In the last round of talks, Russia restated its demands: Ukraine must recognize the loss of five regions that Russia now claims, withdraw troops, adopt a neutral stance, limit military capabilities, and suspend elections and foreign arms shipments as conditions for a ceasefire.

Ukraine has firmly rejected these proposals, labeling them as ultimatums. Kyiv maintains its position that no territorial concessions will be made, and it continues to seek full NATO membership and strong security guarantees from Western nations.

Although prior negotiations have not resulted in a political breakthrough, they did lead to several prisoner exchanges and the return of the remains of fallen soldiers. Russia returned over 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian troops and received 78 of its own in return.

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