Russia has expressed its intention to initiate new negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul next Monday, aiming to present a plan for a peace settlement. However, Ukrainian officials have indicated that they require advance access to the proposal for the meeting to be constructive. The ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have intensified recently; nonetheless, Moscow has consistently dismissed calls for an unconditional ceasefire and has not shown willingness to retreat from its stringent demands.
The two nations previously convened in Istanbul on May 16, marking their first direct discussions in over three years, an encounter that ultimately failed to achieve any significant progress. US President Donald Trump, who has been advocating for a peace agreement, voiced his growing frustration with Russia’s perceived delays and stated he would make a determination within “about two weeks” regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sincerity in seeking an end to hostilities.
Ukraine’s officials have mentioned that they have already submitted their peace terms to Russia, demanding a reciprocal response from Moscow. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who represented Kyiv during the last round of talks, emphasized the need for a substantive diplomatic process, stating, “We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their memorandum.” He underscored that the Russian side has four more days to provide their document for review ahead of the upcoming meeting.
The conflict, which escalated with Russia’s offensive launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and significant devastation across eastern and southern Ukraine. Currently, Russian forces control approximately 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014.
In a video statement, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia would present a “memorandum” outlining its peace terms at the upcoming talks and indicated that he had briefed US counterpart Marco Rubio on the proposal. Lavrov noted that the Russian delegation, led by Vladimir Medinsky, is prepared to offer the memorandum and provide necessary explanations during the forthcoming discussions in Istanbul.
Recent weeks have seen both sides engaged in escalated aerial assaults, with Ukraine launching one of its largest-ever drone attacks on Russia, and Moscow responding with lethal strikes targeting Ukraine. Trump expressed his disappointment regarding Russia’s bombings amid the negotiations but avoided endorsing calls for additional sanctions on Moscow, indicating that it could jeopardize potential agreements.
In a conversation with Lavrov, Rubio urged for “constructive, good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path to ending this war,” according to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce. The Kremlin previously dismissed a proposal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a three-way summit involving Trump and Putin, asserting that any such meeting would only occur after concrete agreements had been established between the negotiating teams.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine relinquish its aspirations to join NATO and cede territory currently under its control, a proposition that Ukraine has rejected outright. Earlier negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side and an agreement to work on respective peace proposals. However, while talks continue, Russia has maintained its assaults on Ukraine and tenaciously denied any calls for a ceasefire.
Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately prolonging the peace process and expressed skepticism about Moscow’s intentions to halt its military offensives. He remarked during a press conference in Berlin that Russia will continuously seek justification for not concluding the war. On the battlefield, reports indicated that Russia is amassing over 50,000 troops around the northeastern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian settlements have fallen under Russian control, with the intention of establishing what Putin describes as a “buffer zone” within Ukrainian territory.
