Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday that his delegation would hold talks with Russia in Istanbul, with the main goal of achieving a ceasefire.
The Istanbul delegation will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and will include military and intelligence officials.
DW News reported that talks between Ukrainian and Russian diplomats are scheduled to be held in Istanbul today.
Zelenskyy wrote in an article about X: “I would like to sincerely thank @rterdogan, his team and the people of Turkiye for their support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. President Erdogan, at our meeting, reaffirmed his support for the Ukrainians and recognized a part of Ukraine at today’s meeting. Affairs, the Office of the President, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff, the Head of the Ukrainian Security Agency and representatives of all our intelligence agencies.”
I would like to emphasize that Tukuye welcomes us with an equal delegation – the highest level. Unfortunately, upon learning of the composition of the Russian delegation, it was clear that they did not take the real conversation seriously. ”
Despite doubts about Russia’s commitment to the negotiations, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine is out of respect for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Zelensky said: “Nevertheless, despite the extremely low level of the Russian delegation, it should be respectful because President Trump, because of the high delegation of President Jehovah Erdogan in Turkey and the sincere desire of President Erdogan, and at least the first step towards the relegation of the war and ending the war, has led us to our marriage. The delegation will serve as head of the security sector and the Chief of Staff will not participate.
Zelenskyy further stated that Russia did not take the negotiations seriously and “don’t want to really end the war.”
“As for the agenda, our delegation’s mandate is clearly No. 1. I still believe that Russia is not serious about these meetings and does not really want to end the war. But we will see if they are willing to show at least some things during the discussion,” Zelenskyy said.
