A Russian delegation is heading to Istanbul earlier than the newest spherical of peace talks with Ukrainian counterparts, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has confirmed, including that he anticipated the negotiations to be “very tough”.
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 vital steps in the direction of peace and a full ceasefire, the supply added.
The talks, the third iteration in current months, will probably be held within the Turkish metropolis on Wednesday night, Peskov informed reporters. The assembly, proposed by Ukraine final week amid sustained United States stress to succeed in a ceasefire, would be the first between the edges 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 collection of exchanges of prisoners of conflict and the our bodies of fallen troopers.
However they failed to provide 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 army help.
No ‘miraculous breakthroughs’ anticipated
Peskov stated the talks would cowl the positions outlined in draft memoranda introduced by all sides, in addition to prisoner exchanges. On Tuesday, he had stated there was no motive “to hope for some miraculous breakthroughs”, saying such an end result was “hardly attainable”.
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.
Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky on the earlier spherical of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, in June (File: Murad Sezer / Reuters)
Zelenskyy outlines modest ambitions
In an announcement posted on social media platform X on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined his nation’s targets from the negotiations.
They didn’t embody talks over an in depth ceasefire settlement, however as a substitute proposed making preparations for a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which might, in flip, result in an finish to the conflict.
He stated Ukraine sought “to safe the discharge of our folks from captivity and return of kidnapped kids, to cease the killings, and to organize a leaders’ assembly geared toward actually bringing this conflict to an finish”.
“Our place is absolutely clear,” he stated. “Ukraine by no means wished this conflict, and it’s Russia that should finish the conflict 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 aspect in Istanbul, as… pic.twitter.com/0JQ1fGyaPC
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@zelenskyyua) July 22, 2025
In one other assertion on Tuesday, he stated work was being carried out to organize rounds of prisoner exchanges agreed to on the earlier talks with Russia.
“All through this spring and summer season, we now have managed to considerably intensify the change course of,” he stated. “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 conflict.”
‘Holding the dialogue going’
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands stated there was no expectation that the talks would “be particularly productive”.
“They’re most definitely going to retread the grounds that earlier rounds of talks have trod, which is actually …facilitating the change of prisoners, the handing over of troopers’ stays.”
He stated Kyiv was additionally keen to lift the difficulty of the return of kids who had been taken from occupied territories by Russia.
“However I don’t suppose there’s any expectation right here that these talks are going to be any vital breakthrough in the direction of peace,” he stated.
“It’s more likely to be simply protecting the dialogue going and ensuring that there’s progress on at the very least 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 via at jap and northeastern factors on the 1,000km (620-mile) entrance line.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry stated its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine’s northeast Sumy area, about 6km (3.7 miles) from the border. In current weeks, Putin introduced his intention to create a “buffer zone” within the Sumy area by occupying Ukrainian border areas.
In different current 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 army governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three folks, together with two 13-year-olds, have been injured, he stated on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Air Drive stated Moscow had launched 71 drones and decoys in a single day, of which 45 have been intercepted or introduced down, the company reported.
