[ad_1]
A Russian delegation is heading to Istanbul earlier than the most recent spherical of peace talks with Ukrainian counterparts, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has confirmed, including that he anticipated the negotiations to be “very troublesome”.
A Ukrainian delegation arrived in Ankara Wednesday for bilateral conferences with Turkish officers forward of the talks with Russia in Istanbul later, a Ukrainian diplomatic supply informed Reuters information company. Kyiv is able to take important steps in direction of peace and a full ceasefire, the supply added.
The talks, the third iteration in latest months, will likely be held within the Turkish metropolis on Wednesday night, Peskov informed reporters. The assembly, proposed by Ukraine final week amid sustained United States strain to achieve a ceasefire, would be the first between the perimeters in additional than seven weeks, however expectations of a breakthrough are muted.
“Nobody expects a simple street,” Peskov informed reporters.
Earlier rounds of talks have led to a sequence of exchanges of prisoners of struggle and the our bodies of fallen troopers.
However they failed to produce a ceasefire, as Russian negotiators refused to drop hardline calls for that weren’t acceptable to Ukraine, together with ceding 4 Ukrainian areas Russia claims as its personal and rejecting Western navy help.
No ‘miraculous breakthroughs’ anticipated
Peskov mentioned the talks would cowl the positions outlined in draft memoranda introduced by both sides, in addition to prisoner exchanges. On Tuesday, he had said there was no purpose “to hope for some miraculous breakthroughs”, saying such an end result was “hardly potential”.
Rustem Umerov, a former defence minister and present secretary of the Nationwide Safety and Protection Council of Ukraine, will lead Kyiv’s delegation, whereas Russia’s delegation will once more be led by presidential adviser and former tradition minister Vladimir Medinsky.
Ukraine beforehand complained that Medinsky was not an actual decision-maker, accusing Russia of sending officers to the talks who weren’t empowered to make selections to finish the battle.
Zelenskyy outlines modest ambitions
In a press release posted on social media platform X on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined his nation’s objectives from the negotiations.
They didn’t embrace talks over an in depth ceasefire settlement, however as an alternative proposed making preparations for a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which might, in flip, result in an finish to the struggle.
He mentioned Ukraine sought “to safe the discharge of our folks from captivity and return of kidnapped kids, to cease the killings, and to arrange a leaders’ assembly geared toward really bringing this struggle to an finish”.
“Our place is absolutely clear,” he mentioned. “Ukraine by no means wished this struggle, and it’s Russia that should finish the struggle that it began. “
I held a gathering on the outcomes Ukraine wants from the negotiation efforts.
Secretary of the Nationwide Safety and Protection Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, reported on the implementation of the agreements reached on the second assembly with the Russian facet in Istanbul, as… pic.twitter.com/0JQ1fGyaPC
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 22, 2025
In one other assertion on Tuesday, he mentioned work was being carried out to arrange rounds of prisoner exchanges agreed to on the earlier talks with Russia.
“All through this spring and summer season, now we have managed to considerably intensify the alternate course of,” he mentioned. “Amongst these free of captivity are individuals who had been listed as lacking, in addition to those that have been held in Russian prisons and camps since earlier than the full-scale struggle.”
‘Preserving the dialogue going’
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands mentioned there was no expectation that the talks would “be particularly productive”.
“They’re almost certainly going to retread the grounds that earlier rounds of talks have trod, which is basically …facilitating the alternate of prisoners, the handing over of troopers’ stays.”
He mentioned Kyiv was additionally keen to boost the problem of the return of youngsters who had been taken from occupied territories by Russia.
“However I don’t assume there’s any expectation right here that these talks are going to be any important breakthrough in direction of peace,” he mentioned.
“It’s prone to be simply conserving the dialogue going and ensuring that there’s progress on no less than these small elementary areas.”
Bloodshed continues
The talks are attributable to be held as Russia continues its bloody offensive in opposition to its neighbour, with its forces mounting sustained efforts to interrupt by at japanese and northeastern factors on the 1,000km (620-mile) entrance line.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry mentioned its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine’s northeast Sumy area, about 6km (3.7 miles) from the border. In latest weeks, Putin introduced his intention to create a “buffer zone” within the Sumy area by occupying Ukrainian border areas.
In different latest violence, Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson killed a 66-year-old girl in a single day, the dpa information company reported, quoting regional navy governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three folks, together with two 13-year-olds, have been injured, he mentioned on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Air Drive mentioned Moscow had launched 71 drones and decoys in a single day, of which 45 have been intercepted or introduced down, the company reported.
[ad_2]
Source link