The third round of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev is planned for Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader said
The next round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place in Türkiye on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky announced in a video statement on Telegram on Monday.
Moscow and Kiev have already held two rounds of direct negotiations in Istanbul this year. At a meeting last month, the sides swapped draft memorandums outlining their roadmaps toward ending the conflict and agreed on new prisoner exchanges.
TASS had earlier reported, citing an insider source, that a new round of talks would take place on Thursday.
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, who led Kiev’s delegation at the previous talks, put forth Wednesday as the date for the next meeting, according to Zelensky.
“I discussed with Rustem Umerov the preparation of the [POW] exchange and another meeting in Turkiye with the Russian side. Umerov reported that the meeting is planned for Wednesday,” he said.
Kiev’s agenda for the upcoming talks comprises humanitarian issues, such as new POW swaps and the negotiation of a potential meeting between the two countries’ leaders, Zelensky said in a statement earlier in the day.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that there is “extensive diplomatic work” to be done, as the Russian and Ukrainian peace memorandums are “diametrically opposed.”
The makeup of Moscow’s negotiating team remains the same, he told journalists on Monday.
Moscow’s memorandum seeks international legal recognition of Crimea, the LPR, the DPR, and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as part of Russia, as well as the full withdrawal from these territories of Ukrainian military and paramilitary formations. It also requires Ukraine to adopt a neutral status with no membership in military alliances and coalitions such as NATO. It must additionally limit the size of its armed forces and ban all Nazi and neo-Nazi organizations and propaganda on its territory, among other points.
Kiev’s memorandum calls for a full and unconditional ceasefire. It insists that Ukraine will not be forced to remain neutral – including the option of full NATO membership – and demands “robust security guarantees” backed by Western countries.
Russia has voiced opposition to UK- and France-led efforts to deploy “peacekeeping” troops in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. Moscow has warned that any NATO forces on Ukrainian territory – under the guise of “peacekeepers” or otherwise – will be considered legitimate military targets.
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