Russia and Ukraine meet for direct peace talks for the first time since March 2022 – just after the invasion – with the U.S. warning that nothing will be achieved without a meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin.
With 20% of Ukraine’s territory already occupied, and Russia claiming the entirety of four provinces in addition to Crimea, Ukraine is seeking security guarantees and a firm response from the U.S. and EU if Russia refuses a ceasefire. Russia, as well as seeking recognition for it land grab, wants Ukrainian neutrality and an end to sanctions.
Russian delegation in Istanbul will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, chairman of the patriotic Russian Military Historical Society, and author of a textbook echoing Putin’s world view, and will include Mikhail Galuzin, deputy foreign minister, Igor Kostyukov, head of GRU military intelligence and Alexander Fomin, deputy defense minister along with a team of technocrats.
Rustem Umerov, the defense minister, heads Ukraine’s team. Umerov is a Crimean Tatar and was involved in the failed 2022 talks. It will also include Serhiy Kyslytsia, first deputy minister of foreign affairs and former ambassador to the UN, Oleksandr Poklad, deputy head of the SBU domestic intelligence service, Oleh Luhovskyi, deputy head of foreign intelligence, and Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of military intelligence.
