Ukraine and Russia began their meetings in Turkey on Friday in their first attempt in a form that involves ceasefire negotiations and representatives from the US and Turkey.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Antalya, said Washington had no high hopes for the outcome of the meeting on Friday.
“Frankly, I think it’s clear at this point that the only way to make a breakthrough here is with President Trump (Donald) President Trump (Vladimir) Putin,” Rubio said.
But until you reach that point, this is what the Friday agenda looks like. Rubio had already met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andri Sibikha in the morning. Separate meetings between Russia and US officials are also expected on Friday, but Rubio said he would not meet with the Moscow representative himself.
Turkish and US officials will then first meet Ukrainian delegations, Turkish Ukraine Russia, before the speech proceeds in a trilateral format.
The delegation is led by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and Russian Presidential Advisor Vladimir Medinsky.
The Ukrainian team said in Thursday that it was said, “We aim to at least try to de-escalate the escalation, the first step towards a ceasefire, the first step towards a ceasefire, that is, the ceasefire.
It is questionable whether the Russian delegation has a mission to this. But Vladimir Medinsky said his team “has the power to make decisions” during a brief press conference on Thursday in Istanbul.
Kiev and its international partners, including the United States, are urging Moscow to adopt an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as the first step towards a broader peace agreement. Moscow continues to refuse.
Kiev repeatedly said he wanted to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire. Andri Yamak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on Friday that it remains Kiev’s “first priority.”
Yermak also added that the in-person meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin “has not arrived in Turkey for any reason” is a key issue for consultations in Istanbul.
Russia presented the conference as a continuation of the 2022 consultations, highlighting what it considers as the “root cause” of the war, the terminology that Russia used to describe Ukraine’s NATO and EU aspirations, the suspension of all foreign military assistance to Kiev, and the non-warning of Ukraine.
