The first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia on ending their war in more than three years started on Friday in Istanbul, with expectations low that the two sides would agree to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Kyiv is seeking an “unconditional ceasefire” to the fighting, which has killed tens of thousands, destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.
Moscow says it wants to address the “root causes” of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opened the meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations around 1:35 pm (1035 GMT) in Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.
He sat at the head of a table in front of Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian flags — with Russian and Ukrainian delegations facing each other, footage from the room showed.
Hundreds of journalists were camped outside the palace.
READ ALSO: Putin ‘Must Pay Price For Avoiding Peace’ In Ukraine – UK PM
The two sides spent the 24 hours before the talks slinging insults at each other and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of not being “serious” about peace.
Nevertheless, the fact the meeting was taking place at all was a sign of movement, with both sides having come under intense pressure from Washington to open talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to travel to Turkey for the talks, which he had proposed, sending a second-level delegation instead.
Zelensky criticised Russia for not taking the talks “seriously” by despatching people who he said had no power to make decisions.
Both Moscow and Washington have also talked up the need for a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump on the conflict.
“Contacts between presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday, adding that “a meeting is undoubtedly necessary.”
Trump had said Thursday that nothing would be settled until the two leaders met.
‘Unconditional ceasefire’
“Ukraine is ready for peace and a long-term and unconditional ceasefire,” Zelensky’s top aid Andriy Yermak said Friday.
“The Ukrainian delegation is in Istanbul today to achieve an unconditional ceasefire — this is our priority,” he added.
Ahead of the talks with Russia, Ukrainian officials held meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg and the national security advisors of Britain, France and Germany.
Rubio “discussed the importance of seeking a peaceful end to the Russia-Ukraine war”, and reiterated “the US position that the killing needs to stop”, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
A Ukrainian diplomatic source in Istanbul told AFP the delegation also wanted to discuss a possible Putin-Zelensky meeting.
Another source accused Moscow of blocking US participation in the peace talks — the first since early 2022.
Western leaders have criticised Putin for skipping the talks and sending his aide — a former cultural minister who is not seen as a key Kremlin decision-maker — Vladimir Medinsky.
Rubio acknowledged that the Russian representation was “not at the levels we had hoped it would be at” and downplayed expectations for a breakthrough.
‘Points of contact’
Russia’s Medinsky led the failed 2022 talks with Ukraine at the start of the war, held right after Ukrainian forces pushed the Russian army away from Kyiv.
He said Thursday that Moscow sees the talks as a “continuation” of talks that failed in 2022 — a sign that Moscow’s hardline demands have not changed.
But Medinsky pushed back against Zelensky’s criticism and insisted that the Russian delegation has a mandate from Putin to ” find possible solutions and points of contact.”
Russia has repeatedly said it will not discuss giving up any territory that its forces occupy.
Kyiv’s chief negotiator is Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who has roots in Crimea, the peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.
‘Avoiding peace’
Kyiv and Moscow last held direct talks in March 2022, in the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They collapsed and fighting has raged since, with Moscow now occupying around a fifth of Ukraine.
Russia continued its attacks in the hours ahead of the talks, with Kyiv saying at least two people were killed.
European leaders slammed Putin for skipping the Istanbul talks.
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas charged Friday that Russia was “clearly” not working for peace with Ukraine.
And NATO chief Mark Rutte said Putin had made a “big mistake” by sending a lower-rank Russian delegation to Istanbul.
