Istanbul hosts first direct Russia-Ukraine talks in three years

ISTANBUL

Türkiye has urged delegations from Russia and Ukraine to "seize the opportunity" to end the war as the sides met in Istanbul for their first face-to-face peace talks in three years.

A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov sat down with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

Russia's other three negotiators were named as Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, director of GRU military intelligence agency.

The Ukrainian delegation included First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kyslytsya, SBU domestic intelligence service's deputy head Oleksandr Poklad and foreign intelligence unit's deputy head Oleh Luhovsky.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chaired the meeting in Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace, with the officials sitting around a U-shaped table and the Russians and Ukrainians facing each other. Türkiye's intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın was also present.

"We have to seize this opportunity to move forward on the path of peace. Every day that is delayed causes more lives to be lost," Fidan said at the opening of the talks.

"While the war continues to take lives, it is of critical importance that the ceasefire be implemented as soon as possible."

The meeting must also work towards bringing Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky together, he added.

"We wholeheartedly believe it is possible to reach peace through constructive negotiations," Fidan stated.

Russia and Ukraine agreed Friday to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, the head of Russia’s delegation Vladimir Medinsky said after their peace talks ended.

Such an exchange would be their biggest POW swap since the start of the war in 2022.

"Overall, we are satisfied with the results and ready to continue contacts," Medinsky told state TV reporters, adding that once each side had exchanged ideas on a possible ceasefire, negotiations could continue.

Medinsky also said Moscow and Kiev agreed to provide each other with detailed proposals for a ceasefire.

Ukraine's top negotiator Umerov said on Friday that the "next step" in talks with Russia should be a meeting between presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.

"I think the next step would be that the leaders-level meeting should be organised," he told reporters in Istanbul after the first face-to-face peace talks between the sides.

In a post on X, Fidan described the day as “a significant one for world peace," adding that “Türkiye will continue to make every effort to help achieve a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine."

The parties further agreed in principle to meet again for continued negotiations, he stated.

Both countries have tried to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump, who has expressed frustration over the slow progress and threatened to punish foot-dragging, that they are eager to resolve the conflict.

The latest push to end the fighting got off to a rocky start on May 15 when Putin spurned an offer by Zelensky to meet face-to-face.

Delegations from the two countries also flew to different Turkish cities and put together teams of significantly different diplomatic heft for possible talks.

After Putin didn’t take up Zelensky’s challenge to sit down with him in Türkiye on May 14, the Ukrainian president accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as “a theater prop.”

A flurry of diplomatic activity took place in Istanbul before the talks.

Ukrainian officials held an early-morning meeting with national security advisers from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to coordinate positions, a senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press.

The U.S. team was led by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, while Umerov and presidential office chief Andriy Yermak represented Ukraine, the official said.

A three-way meeting between Türkiye, the U.S. and Ukraine also took place, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. The U.S. side included Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Kellogg.

Kiev and Moscow last held direct talks in March 2022, in the first weeks of Russia's invasion. They collapsed and fighting has raged since, with Moscow now occupying around a fifth of Ukraine.