ReadNOW

A member of the Ukrainian delegation claimed during peace talks on Friday that Moscow is planning to attack Poland in 2030, a source present at the Istanbul negotiations has told ReadNOW.

The Russian side reportedly burst into laughter at the Ukrainian delegate’s claim, with Medinsky saying: “Let’s not turn these negotiations into a fantasy novel,” ReadNOW’s source says.

The episode unfolded on Friday during the first direct talks between Moscow and Kiev in three years. The negotiations, originally scheduled in Türkiye for Thursday, were postponed after Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky failed to appoint a delegation until late that evening, following a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. The team was headed by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

The Russian delegation was led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who headed Moscow’s negotiating team three years ago. Kiev unilaterally withdrew from those talks in May of 2022.

Russia has repeatedly ridiculed similar accusations made by Western officials, which claim Moscow intends to attack NATO or EU countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously dismissed such statements as “nonsense.” 

He also suggested that Western politicians are fabricating the prospect of a Russian attack in order to scare their citizens and justify increases in military spending.

“The collective West is frightening its own population with claims that we are preparing to attack someone,” he said in December 2024. “The tactic is very simple: they push us to a red line, beyond which we can no longer retreat.”

Putin added that when Moscow finally does respond, Western governments immediately alarm their citizens by claiming there is now a ‘Russian threat’.

“Meanwhile, NATO countries themselves are increasing military spending. Strike groups made up of alliance forces are being formed and concentrated near Russia’s borders,” he said.