For the first time since 2022, Ukraine and Russia have engaged in direct peace talks aimed at ending the war that has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. The high-stakes meeting began on Friday in Istanbul, although expectations for a breakthrough remain low.
Ukrainian officials are pushing for an “unconditional ceasefire” to halt the war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated much of Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Russia, on the other hand, says it wants to revisit the failed negotiations of 2022 and address what it calls the “root causes” of the conflict—terms that include sweeping territorial and political demands from Kyiv.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opened the meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations around 1:35 pm (1035 GMT) in Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.
He sat at the head of a table in front of Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian flags — with Russian and Ukrainian delegations facing each other, footage from the room showed.
The two sides spent the 24 hours before the talks slinging insults at each other and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of not being “serious” about peace.
Nevertheless, the fact the meeting was taking place at all was a sign of movement, with both sides having come under intense pressure from Washington to open talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to travel to Turkey for the talks, which he had proposed, sending a second-level delegation instead.
Zelensky criticised Russia for not taking the talks “seriously” by despatching people who he said had no power to make decisions.
Both Moscow and Washington have also talked up the need for a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump on the conflict.
“Contacts between presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday, adding that “a meeting is undoubtedly necessary.”
Trump had said Thursday that nothing would be settled until the two leaders met.
“Ukraine is ready for peace and a long-term and unconditional ceasefire,” Zelensky’s top aid Andriy Yermak said Friday.
“The Ukrainian delegation is in Istanbul today to achieve an unconditional ceasefire — this is our priority,” he added.