Third round of negotiations in Istanbul: what are the main goals and what to expect
Kyiv • UNN
President Zelenskyy announced the third round of negotiations with the Russian Federation in Istanbul on July 23, with Rustem Umerov leading the Ukrainian delegation. Ukraine insists on a truce and proposes a meeting of leaders with the participation of international mediators.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the next meeting with the Russian side in Istanbul is planned for Wednesday, July 23. The head of state added that the Ukrainian delegation will be led by the head of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov. UNN reports on what to expect from this meeting and what the results of previous ones were.
Third round of negotiations in Istanbul
"I discussed with Rustem Umerov the preparation of the exchange and another meeting in Turkey with the Russian side. Umerov reported that the meeting is planned for Wednesday," Zelenskyy said during an evening video address.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha noted that Ukraine is ready to continue negotiations with Russia, expecting constructive dialogue and a mandate to resolve important issues. Our state will propose a meeting at the level of leaders with the participation of Zelenskyy, Putin, Trump, European leaders, and Erdogan.
"We insist on a truce. It is very important... that the other side has a mandate to discuss important issues: ending the war, achieving a truce. So far, we do not see this. Therefore, we had a proposal that we could discuss such strategic issues – to hold a meeting at the level of Zelenskyy – Putin with the participation of President Trump, European leaders, President Erdogan, and we believe that such meetings will positively affect the further dynamics of the negotiation process," he concluded.
Turkey also expressed hope that the third round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Istanbul this week. The country's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan noted that Istanbul's goal is to ensure that the parties continue to talk to each other.
"Turkey realizes its regional responsibility at the highest level, while developing friendship in distant geographical regions. This week, there will be intense diplomatic movement in Istanbul. We hope that the 3rd round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will take place this week. Our goal is to ensure that the parties continue to talk to each other," Fidan said.
Position of the Russian side
The Kremlin stated that thorough preparation is needed to organize a possible meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia. It is too early to talk about high-level negotiations, but there is hope that the third round of talks will take place this week.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, said that Russia and Ukraine need to do preparatory work before discussing a possible meeting of the leaders of the two countries.
"The topic of negotiations is quite complex. In addition to other issues, of course, it will be necessary to discuss those largest draft memorandums that were exchanged during the second round. Therefore, a lot of work needs to be done first, before we can talk in a substantive way about the possibility of any meetings at high and higher levels," Peskov said, answering journalists' questions about a possible meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.
At the same time, the spokesman for the Russian dictator did not specify on what day the third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul could take place.
"We hope it will be this week," Peskov said briefly.
Previous rounds of negotiations in Istanbul
Georgiy Tykhyi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, stated that meetings of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul led to limited results in the humanitarian track, particularly in terms of prisoner exchange. As for other areas of negotiations, they did not progress due to the destructive position of the Russians.
Meetings took place in Istanbul. I was there, I saw how everything was happening. These meetings led to a limited result on the humanitarian track, which is important for us, but apart from the humanitarian track of prisoner exchange, there were no other results from this meeting. The reason for this was the unconstructive position of the Russian Federation.
Then-Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation, reported that during the second round of negotiations, the parties agreed to carry out another exchange of prisoners of war. At the same time, attention will be focused on seriously wounded and young soldiers.
"We agreed on exchanges... We focus on the seriously wounded. The focus is on youth. Also - the exchange of bodies of the dead...", - said the Minister of Defense during the briefing.
Information about the prisoner exchange was also confirmed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During the first round of negotiations, which took place on May 16, the Russian delegation at the negotiations in Istanbul put forward new demands to Ukraine, which were unacceptable for the Ukrainian delegation. According to Georgiy Tykhyi, the Ukrainian side stuck to its position and brought the discussion back to those points that are important for the Ukrainian side.
Tykhyi then emphasized that if the Ukrainian delegation managed to really agree on one position - the "1000 for 1000" exchange, then this is already very important, because it will make at least 1000 Ukrainian families happy.
At the same time, in both rounds of negotiations in Istanbul (May 16 and June 2), the Russian delegation actually disrupted the process, uttering only its ultimatums. Whether it will be possible to advance in the direction of important political decisions during the third round of Istanbul negotiations will become known soon.