After a day of controversy and intense diplomatic backstage, marked by Vladimir Putin’s absence, Russia and Ukraine They returned today (16.05.2025) to the negotiating table in Istanbul, under the look of the US and Turkey, but also with the forearm of expectations being set quite low. The delegations of Ukraine and Russia are currently meeting in Constantinople, a television network reported.
After Thursday’s fiasco (15.05.2025), everyone is eagerly awaiting developments that will result from direct talks of the two countries, Russia and Ukraine, for the first time since the start of the war in 2022.
Earlier a meeting was held between Vladimir Mentinsky, Head of the Russian delegation sent to Turkey for negotiations with the ultimate goal of ending the war in Ukraine, and Michael AntonState Department official, at a hotel in Istanbul, according to an US official.
Cease fire and confidence building measures The priorities in talks with Russia
The assurance of the application ceasefire It is a priority in talks with the Russian delegation today in Istanbul, a Ukrainian diplomatic source said, adding that there is also a need to take confidence with Russia.
BREAKING: TALKS BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA HAVE BEGUN
What will come out of it — if anything at all? What do you think? pic.twitter.com/tfuyz8xxSp
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 16, 2025
The same source said that Ukrainian negotiators would raise the issue of a face -to -face meeting between its president Ukraine Volodimir Zelenski and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“We realize that in order to have any diplomatic process, a ceasefire needs to be implemented. A real, sustainable and well -being, “the Ukrainian diplomatic source summarized.
“There is also a need to implement confidence -building measures, such as the return of the children of Ukraine, prisoners and the universal exchange of prisoners of war.”
A meeting between representatives of Turkey, the US, and Ukraine has concluded in Istanbul
The photo shows moments of informal conversation between Fidan, Rubio, Yermak, and Umerov. pic.twitter.com/5izN6TVmfh
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 16, 2025
Ukraine doubts that Russian negotiators in Constantinople have “real decision -making power”, he had told the AFP A Ukrainian Officer before the talks start.
“Putin sent to Constantinople persons who have no real power in decision -making … but if the Russian delegation however has some responsibilities, he will be able to prove it only by accepting specific measures, especially the implementation of a ceasefire.”
Kremlin: We hope that Russia -Ukraine talks will soon start
Kremlin hopes that immediate conversations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul will begin soon. This told reporters The spokesman for the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov.
“Of course, now all the attention is focused on the development of negotiations in Constantinople. We hope that immediate conversations between Russia and Ukraine will begin as soon as possible. At the moment there is nothing to say, we must wait to see how they will evolve, ”he said at a press conference.
Still, he announced today that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US president Donald Trump It is necessary, but significant preparation is required to be effect.
“Such a meeting is definitely necessary,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in regular information to reporters. “Contacts between Presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” he added.
Peskov’s comments were made after Trump’s statements, which said he would “see” Vladimir Putin “as soon as it is possible to organize” a meeting.
Rubio: The killings must stop
“The killings must stop,” the US Secretary of State said Mark Rubioafter the trilateral meeting in Constantinople with Michael Anton and Vladimir Mentinsky.
During the talks in Constantinople between the head of American diplomacy and his counterparts of Ukraine and Turkey, the three sides “discussed the importance of seeking a peaceful solution in the war between Russia and Ukraine” and Mark Rubio ” Tami Bruce.