Istanbul hosts first direct Ukraine-Russia peace talks
By Linda Bordoni
The Kremlin confirmed on Thursday that Putin has no plans to travel to Istanbul, where unprecedented direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are set to take place.
In a post on Telegram, Russia’s top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, who is in Istanbul, said Moscow aims for a “long-term and lasting peace by eliminating the roots of the conflict.”
But Western leaders have criticised Russia’s decision to send a junior delegation to Istanbul, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he was not officially informed about who was attending from the Russian side and described the Russian delegation as “phoney”.
Meanwhile, in Ankara, the Ukrainian President met with his Turkish counterpart, President Erdogan, while an informal NATO foreign ministers’ meeting took place in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
Analysts say Putin’s absence has shattered hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts that were given a push in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders.
It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.
The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N., and continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line with Russian forces reportedly preparing a fresh military offensive.
At least five civilians were killed and 29 injured in the past day, according to authorities in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia’s army is trying to advance.
The current diplomatic efforts began over the weekend when European leaders met Zelensky in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin later responded by proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, which Zelensky insists must be face-to-face between the two leaders.
The US president, meanwhile, expressed his opinion that there will be no breakthrough until he himself meets Putin and indicated that a trip to Turkey could still be on the table if it were appropriate.
(Source: AP and other agencies)
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