During the "peace" talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul in the spring and summer of 2025, the Russian delegation ignored concrete steps to end hostilities, instead trying to anger Ukrainian delegates and using manipulation to deceive the Americans. This is stated in the account of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsia to The Times.
Details
According to Kyslytsia, the approach of the Russian delegation at the talks in Istanbul was to ignore "concrete steps towards peace," deny Ukraine's identity, and try to create an illusion of progress to deceive the American side.
According to the Ukrainian diplomat, in Istanbul, the Russians appeared with dossiers on each member of the Ukrainian delegation, with the aim of trying to provoke them.
Trump-Putin summit in Budapest: Peskov voiced the Kremlin's position on the meeting07.11.25, 12:36
At the same time, the head of the Russian delegation, Medinsky, distorted the history of Ukraine, claiming that, allegedly, "we, Russians, are killing Russians."
They know the biography of each of us very well. They had a list of Ukrainian defense ministers, generals, and diplomats.
But the Russians denied Ukrainian identity, however, Kyiv's representatives agreed at a pre-meeting briefing not to react to such manipulations.
According to the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, at the talks in Istanbul, the Russian side repeatedly ignored "all attempts to discuss the essence of the issue." Instead, Medinsky and his colleagues proposed creating Whatsapp groups, working groups, and other mechanisms through which they could mislead the Americans, making them believe that the negotiations were progressing, so that they would not take punitive measures.
Kyslytsia said that the Russians refused to consider any ceasefire until he asked them what they meant by that word. The only ceasefire the Russian delegation would agree to was a two-hour truce to collect the dead, The Times writes.
Recall
After several rounds of negotiations, Russian dictator's aide Yuriy Ushakov stated that the next round of talks in Istanbul would be bilateral between Russia and Ukraine.
Muslim countries meet in Istanbul on Gaza ceasefire03.11.25, 16:25