Moscow and Kiev have not held direct negotiations since meeting in Istanbul in April 2022
FILE PHOTO: The Russian-Ukrainian talks at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul in April 2022. © Getty Images / Cem Ozdel
The first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years are scheduled to take place in Türkiye’s largest city, Istanbul, on Thursday.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume direct dialogue between Moscow and Kiev in order to find a lasting settlement to the ongoing conflict that would address its root causes.
After US President Donald Trump supported the proposal and said Kiev should accept it “immediately,” Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who had previously ruled out any talks with Moscow, also expressed his readiness to travel to Istanbul.
Kiev had earlier stated that the only official from Moscow that Zelensky would talk to is Putin. However, the Russian president has so far made no indication that he is planning to travel to Türkiye.
Moscow and Ukraine last talked to each other in April 2022, also in Istanbul. Russia, which initially expressed satisfaction with the results of that meeting and withdrew its forces from the outskirts of Kiev as a goodwill gesture, later accused Ukraine of backtracking on the progress achieved in Türkiye, saying it had lost trust in Kiev’s negotiators.
Russian officials, including President Putin, later blamed the West and, in particular, then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for derailing the peace process, saying he had urged Kiev to “just continue fighting.”
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14 May 2025
22:23 GMT
Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who was designated to lead Russia’s negotiators in Istanbul, served as a member of the State Duma from 2004 to 2011 and as Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2020.
He is the chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society, an organization tasked with studying and promoting the country’s role in various conflicts, including World War I and World War II, as well as commissioning war memorials. Medinsky has authored a series of books aimed at exploring and debunking what he describes as negative “myths” about Russian history.
In December, Medinsky insisted that Ukraine had a real opportunity to reach a peace deal in the spring of 2022 but abruptly “discarded all agreements” and withdrew from the talks.
Vladimir Medinsky © Kristina Kormilitsyna / Sputnik
- 21:47 GMT
US President Donald Trump has no plans to travel to Istanbul to join the proposed talk between Russia and Ukraine, two anonymous White House officials told CNN. Trump had previously hinted at the possibility of joining the talk, but made no commitments on the matter, citing his extremely tight schedule.
- 21:25 GMT
Kiev has expressed its disappointment with the composition of the Russian delegation, with Zelensky’s aide Mikhail Podoliak claiming the chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, was not the right figure to discuss unspecified “fundamental issues.”
“No, of course not, that’s not the format. The President can’t meet, especially with Medinsky – the status won’t be entirely clear,” Podoliak told Ukrainian media.
- 20:23 GMT
President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order nominating senior Russian officials for upcoming peace negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Delegation Members
The delegation will be led by:
• Vladimir Medinsky – Presidential Aide (Head of Delegation)
• Mikhail Galuzin – Deputy Foreign Minister
• Igor Kostyukov – Chief of the General Staff’s Main Directorate
• Alexander Fomin – Deputy Defense Minister
Supporting Experts
The delegation will also include:
• Andrey Zorin (General Staff, Information Directorate)
• Ekaterina Podobreveskaya (Presidential Office, Humanitarian Policy)
• Alexander Polishchuk (Foreign Ministry, CIS Affairs)
• Vladimir Shevtsov (Defense Ministry, International Military Cooperation)
The composition mirrors Russia’s 2022 negotiation team.
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Kremlin names delegation for Ukraine talks - 19:49 GMT
According to Ukrainian media reports, Vladimir Zelensky, his head of office Andrey Yermak, and his defense and foreign ministers are expected to travel to Istanbul. However, the exact composition of Kiev’s negotiating team is likely to be determined by Zelensky on the spot on Thursday.
- 19:33 GMT
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on phone with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when the latter briefly stopped in Moscow, the Kremlin press service has said. Earlier in the day, the Brazilian leader pledged during a press conference in Beijing to ask Putin to participate in the Istanbul talks personally.
“Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to the leadership of Brazil and China for their sincere desire to make a constructive contribution to finding ways to resolve the [Ukraine] conflict,” the Kremlin press service said.
- 17:32 GMT
Zelensky has stated that Kiev is open to “any format of negotiations” to bring an end to the war with Russia.
He added that Ukraine’s next steps will depend on who represents Russia in the upcoming talks.
FILE PHOTO: Vladimir Zelensky. © Paul Morigi / Getty Images
- 16:53 GMT
US President Donald Trump has apparently downplayed the chance that he will travel to Istanbul on Thursday for the Ukraine talks, claiming that his schedule did not allow for it. Earlier this week, Trump floated the possibility of joining the negotiations in person.
“Now tomorrow we’re all booked out, you understand that, we’re all set,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while en route to Qatar.
- 16:25 GMT
Kiev remains insistent on the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Istanbul talks, senior aide to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, Mikhail Podoliak, has signaled.
“If there’s no Putin, there are certainly no negotiations. [Zelensky] will make the decision, whether there will be any talks. But then [these negotiations] will definitely not be at [his] level,” he stated.
- 15:54 GMT
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has confirmed he will travel to Istanbul on Friday alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to participate in discussions on the Ukraine conflict. Witkoff made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Doha, Qatar.
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