Russia and Ukraine will hold new peace talks Wednesday as a follow-up to two rounds in İstanbul that made little progress on ending their war, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
“Today, I discussed with [Ukrainian Security Council chief] Rustem Umerov the preparations for the exchange and another meeting in Turkey with the Russian side. Umerov reported that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday,” Zelensky said in his daily address on Monday.
He added that more details would be released on Tuesday.
The rival sides met in İstanbul on May 16 and June 2 amid US pressure to agree a ceasefire. Despite the urging of US President Donald Trump, no breakthrough was made.
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have so far only agreed to hold prisoner exchanges. And Russia has since launched intense air attacks on Ukraine and seized more frontline territory.
Russia has demanded Ukraine give up four regions, on top of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. The Kremlin also insists Ukraine give up any idea of joining the NATO military alliance.
Ukraine has rejected the demands and expressed doubt that Russia wants a ceasefire.
After Trump last week gave Russia 50 days to negotiate a deal or face heavy sanctions — and also renewed arms supplies to Ukraine — the Kremlin said it was ready for more talks.
The two sides exchanged ideas at the earlier talks on what a peace deal could look like, but remain far apart.
“A lot of diplomatic work lies ahead,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier on Monday, commenting on the prospects for a breakthrough.
Kremlin: No reason to expect ‘breakthrough’
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Tuesday downplayed expectations for the upcoming peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegates, saying it does not believe any breakthrough is likely in the near future, The Moscow Times reported.
“There’s no reason to expect any kind of miraculous breakthrough,” Peskov told reporters. “That’s unlikely under the current circumstances.”
“We intend to pursue and secure our interests and to achieve the objectives we set from the very beginning,” he said, adding that it would be “misguided” to set a timeline for a potential peace settlement due to “many factors” at play in the negotiations.
Peskov also declined to say when the next round of talks will take place, saying only that the Kremlin was “hopeful” they will happen this week.
“Once we’re ready, we’ll announce the timeline,” he told reporters. “The issue of negotiations is quite complex. Among other things, we’ll need to discuss the draft memorandums that were exchanged during the second round of talks.”
© Agence France-Presse