The foreign press noted that the Russian delegation for negotiations in Turkey included the head of the Russian GRU Igor Kostyukov, who is under US and UK sanctions, UNN writes, citing The Guardian.
Details
"One of the prominent members of the Russian delegation in Turkey is Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency behind some of Moscow's most famous secret operations in recent years," the newspaper writes.
The United States has reportedly imposed sanctions against Kostyukov for his alleged role in interfering in the country's 2016 presidential election, and the United Kingdom for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, which killed Dawn Sturgess.
Recently, the GRU has reportedly been accused of organizing a series of sabotage operations across Europe, including arson, cyber intrusions, data theft and attempts to target underwater cables.
Addition
President of Ukraine Zelenskyy arrived in the capital of Turkey Ankara. The Ukrainian delegation is also in Turkey.
Zelenskyy said on May 11 that he expects a ceasefire from Russia and that he will personally wait for Vladimir Putin in Turkey on May 15. But he said that he would not negotiate with any representative of Russia except Putin himself.
On the night of May 15, the Kremlin announced the participants of the Russian delegation to the negotiations in Turkey, but the level was even lower than expected, when the media reported that the meeting may be attended by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov.
Zelenskyy called the level of the Russian delegation for negotiations in Istanbul "similar to a dummy", landing in Ankara for a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zelenskyy indicated that the Ukrainian side will think about what to do with the negotiations with the Russian delegation, what steps will be taken after the conversation with Turkish President Erdogan.
The head of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin called for direct negotiations with Ukraine last Sunday, but, as the Kremlin reported, decided not to participate in the negotiations today. Instead, the delegation will be headed by assistant Vladimir Medinsky. The delegation also included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin and Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Oleksandr Fomin.
Bloomberg noted that the prospects for a breakthrough in peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have become even less certain, due to the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a lower-level delegation to Turkey and will be absent himself.