ISTANBUL – The first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in three years are set to take place in Istanbul, facilitated by Turkey, but little immediate progress is anticipated in ending the more than 3-year conflict.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is scheduled to meet with a low-level Russian team led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
Efforts to halt the fighting faced obstacles at the start when Russian President Vladimir Putin declined an offer from Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a face-to-face meeting. Representatives from both nations traveled to different Turkish cities and assembled teams with varying levels of diplomatic expertise for the potential discussions.
Although expectations for a possible Putin-Zelenskyy meeting were low, the apparent lack of traction in peace efforts frustrated hopes of bold steps being taken in Turkey toward reaching a settlement.
The two sides are far apart in their conditions for ending the war, and U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday during a trip to the Middle East that a meeting between himself and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock.
On Friday, Trump said a meeting with Putin would happen “as soon as we can set it up.”
“I think it’s time for us to just do it,” Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
Ukraine has accepted a U.S. and European proposal for a full, 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has effectively rejected it by imposing far-reaching conditions.
Meantime, Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.
After Putin didn’t take up Zelenskyy’s challenge to sit down with him in the Turkish capital on Thursday, 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.”
Even so, Zelenskyy said that he was sending a team headed by his defense minister to Friday’s meeting in Istanbul. That would show Trump that Ukraine is determined to press ahead with peace efforts despite Russian foot-dragging, Zelenskyy said, amid intense diplomatic maneuvering by Kyiv and Moscow.
The Russian delegation also includes three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.
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 on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
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 Turkey, 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.
Rubio on Thursday said he didn’t foresee major developments in Istanbul.
“We don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow. And frankly, at this point, I think it’s abundantly clear that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin,” Rubio told reporters Thursday in Antalya, Turkey.
Zelenskyy, meantime, flew to Albania to attend a meeting Friday of the leaders of 47 European countries to discuss security, defense and democratic standards against the backdrop of the war.
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Aamer Madhani in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.
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