Russia and Ukraine talk again: first direct meeting since 2022 takes place in Istanbul.
Three years after their last encounter, Russia and Ukraine are once again sitting at the same table. The summit, scheduled for today in Istanbul at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin (who has confirmed he will not attend), marks the first direct contact between the two delegations since March 2022, when negotiations were held at the Dolmabahçe Palace in the Turkish capital.
Once again, the Russian delegation is being led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky. Alongside him, as in 2022, is Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Representing the Russian diplomatic corps is Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, responsible for matters related to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Among the negotiators is also Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
Moscow is also sending a team of experts to Istanbul, including Alexander Zorin, Yelena Podobreyevskaya, Alexey Polishchuk, and Viktor Shevtsov, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation.
The United States, however, will not be mere spectators. President Donald Trump (who also will not be at the table) confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials will be present in Turkey. Among them are Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
The agenda of the meeting remains confidential. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that discussions will revolve around a durable solution to the conflict, including territorial issues. However, he tempered expectations: “It’s too early to make forecasts,” he said, adding that much will depend on the position of Kyiv’s Western sponsors.
Among them is the increasingly marginal European Union which, with little leverage in this affair (the major players are well known), could only “express concerns” about the approach. French President Emmanuel Macron—one of the few in Europe still pushing for escalation with Russia after three long years of war—called the Russian offer “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s roving ambassador from the Foreign Ministry, believes the draft document negotiated between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul back in 2022 could still serve as a working base, provided it is updated to reflect the developments of the past three years.
Despite the cautious tone, the Istanbul meeting rekindles faint hopes for the reopening of a diplomatic channel. Whether the political and military conditions are ripe to turn this into more than a tactical move remains to be seen. But the mere fact that Russia and Ukraine are talking again is, in itself, newsworthy. The European saboteurs, however marginal they may now be, remain a lingering uncertainty.
Photo Şinasi Müldür from Pixabay.com
