ISTANBUL: Ukraine said Monday (Jun 2) it was ready to take “necessary steps for peace” at talks with Russia in Istanbul, where the two sides will exchange plans on how they want to end the three-year war, Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.
Urged on by US President Donald Trump, Moscow and Kyiv have opened direct negotiations for the first time since the early weeks of Russia’s invasion, but have yet to make significant progress towards an elusive agreement.
Monday’s talks come a day after Ukraine carried out one of its most brazen and successful attacks ever on Russian soil – hitting dozens of strategic bombers parked at airbases thousands of kilometres behind the front line.
A first round of talks in Istanbul last month yielded a large-scale prisoner exchange but no pause in the fighting, which has raged since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The second round is scheduled to get underway at 1pm at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, an Ottoman imperial house on the banks of the Bosphorus that is now a luxury five-star hotel.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will mediate the talks.
“We are ready to take the necessary steps for peace,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a summit of NATO members in Vilnius ahead of the talks.
A source in the negotiating team urged Russia to avoid repeating its previous hardline demands and show “flexibility”.
“If they are ready to move forward, not just repeat the same previous ultimatums, then there may be good and big news today,” the source told AFP.
“UNCONDITIONAL CEASEFIRE”
Moscow says it will present a “memorandum” of its peace terms, having resisted pressure by Ukraine to send its demands in advance.
Despite the flurry of diplomacy, the two sides remain far apart.
Zelenskyy on Sunday refreshed his call for an immediate halt to the fighting, something Kyiv says is a necessary first step to discussions of long-term peace.
“First – a full and unconditional ceasefire. Second – the release of prisoners. Third – the return of abducted children,” he said Sunday in a post on social media.
He also called for the sides to discuss a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The key issues can only be resolved by the leaders,” Zelenskyy said.
The Kremlin has repeatedly pushed back against the prospect of a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting, having questioned his legitimacy throughout the war and repeatedly called for him to be toppled.
Moscow says it wants to address the “root causes” of the conflict – language typically used to refer to a mix of sweeping demands including limiting Ukraine’s military, banning the country from joining NATO and massive territorial concessions.
Kyiv and the West have rejected those calls and cast Russia’s assault as nothing but an imperialist land grab.
