The meetings taking place in Istanbul are not part of the peace talks. These are meetings of military partner countries to discuss security guarantees in the Black Sea after the end of the war. This was announced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, reports UNN.
What is happening in Turkey is a meeting of the military on the issue of security in the Black Sea. This concerns the "coalition of the willing", relevant steps, various formats of the "coalition of the willing" regarding security in the Black Sea are being discussed. This is being discussed for these two days on the platform of our Turkish colleagues
He also added that representatives of those countries that represent Europe will be present in Istanbul, as decided at the summit in Paris.
These are France, Great Britain, Ukraine and the host country - Turkey. The military is discussing security issues in the Black Sea
Zelenskyy also stressed that the negotiations in Istanbul are not peace negotiations, but a discussion of security guarantees. In particular, we are talking about the presence of military partner countries in the Black Sea.
Our security guarantees are a matter of contingent. The presence of Western partners in the sky, sea and on land. This is called the "coalition of the willing". There is a meeting in Turkey, because we are talking about the presence of a contingent in the sea. And we believe that Turkey can play a serious role in future security guarantees regarding the sea. This is not about ending the war, unfortunately. This is about what will happen after the ceasefire
The head of state also added that the issue of peace is not currently being discussed in Turkey, because the Russian side is absent. The aggressor state does not want peace.
Turkey is not discussing a peace initiative between Ukraine and Russia. The "Russians" do not want any negotiations yet. We are talking about security guarantees
Addendum
Zelenskyy reacted sharply to the words of US President Donald Trump's special representative Steve Witkoff that a "peace agreement" would include the settlement of the issue of five territories. He noted that the issue of temporarily occupied territories is a red line for Ukraine.