Russia has requested a new round of peace talks with Ukraine to be held in Istanbul next Monday. However, Ukraine has stated its condition for agreeing to the meeting: it wants to see Russia’s peace plan in writing before commencing discussions.
Kyiv insists that any future negotiations must be earnest and lead to tangible progress, rather than merely resulting in further delays.
This call for talks comes as the conflict enters its third year, with no clear indication of a ceasefire.
Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war have intensified in recent months, but Moscow has consistently rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire and has shown no signs of retreating from its maximalist demands.
The two sides last convened in Istanbul on May 16 — their first direct talks in over three years — but that meeting failed to yield any significant breakthrough.
US President Donald Trump, who has been advocating for a peace deal, has expressed growing frustration with Moscow’s apparent stalling tactics. On Wednesday, he warned that he would decide within “about two weeks” whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was serious about ending the hostilities.
Ukraine has asserted that it has already submitted its peace terms to Russia and insists that Moscow must reciprocate by providing its own.
“We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their memorandum,” said Ukrainian defense minister Rustem Umerov, who represented Kyiv at the last talks, in a post on X.
“The Russian side has at least four more days before their departure to provide us with their document for review. Diplomacy must be substantive, and the next meeting must yield results.”
Russia’s full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and widespread destruction across eastern and southern Ukraine.
The Russian army currently controls approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
‘Very Disappointed’ by Russian Actions
Russia has indicated that it will present a “memorandum” outlining its peace terms at the talks next Monday and that its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, had already briefed US counterpart Marco Rubio on the proposal.
“Our delegation, led by Vladimir Medinsky, is ready to present a memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation and provide the necessary explanations during a second round of direct talks in Istanbul on Monday, June 2,” Lavrov stated in a video message.
Medinsky, a Russian political scientist and former culture minister, led Russia’s negotiating team during the earlier talks in Istanbul on May 16.
Both sides have engaged in intense aerial attacks in recent weeks. Ukraine launched one of its largest-ever drone strikes on Russia overnight, while Moscow pounded Ukrainian cities with deadly missile barrages over the past weekend.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he was “very disappointed” with Russia’s lethal attacks during the peace efforts but refrained from imposing further sanctions on Moscow.
“If I think I’m close to getting a deal, I don’t want to screw it up by doing that,” he explained.
The Kremlin had earlier dismissed a call by Ukrainian President Zelensky for a three-way summit involving Trump and Putin.
Moscow stated that any meeting involving Russian President Putin and Zelensky would only occur after “concrete agreements” had been reached between negotiators from both sides.
In exchange for peace, the Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine abandon its aspirations of joining NATO and cede territory currently under Russian control—a demand Kyiv has unequivocally rejected as unacceptable.
Russia Accused of Seeking ‘Reasons’ to Prolong Conflict
Talks held in Istanbul earlier this month facilitated a prisoner exchange of 1,000-for-1,000, and both sides agreed to work on peace proposals.
However, Russia has continued its devastating strikes on Ukraine and has refused to consider a comprehensive ceasefire.
On Wednesday, Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately delaying the peace process and lacking any genuine desire to end the war.
“They will constantly look for reasons not to end the war,” he stated at a press conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
On the battlefield, Zelensky reported that Russia was massing over 50,000 troops near the front line in the northeastern Sumy border region. Moscow’s forces have captured several settlements there in what Putin has described as a “buffer zone” within Ukrainian territory.
