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 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 instructed 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 current months, will likely be held within the Turkish metropolis on Wednesday night, Peskov instructed reporters. The assembly, proposed by Ukraine final week amid sustained United States strain to succeed in 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 highway,” Peskov instructed 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 army assist.
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 said there was no purpose “to hope for some miraculous breakthroughs”, saying such an final 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.
Zelenskyy outlines modest ambitions
In a press release posted on social media platform X on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined his nation’s targets from the negotiations.
They didn’t embrace talks over an in depth ceasefire settlement, however as a substitute proposed making preparations for a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which may, in flip, result in an finish to the struggle.
He stated Ukraine sought “to safe the discharge of our individuals from captivity and return of kidnapped kids, to cease the killings, and to arrange a leaders’ assembly geared toward actually bringing this struggle to an finish”.
“Our place is totally clear,” he stated. “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 stated 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, we’ve managed to considerably intensify the trade 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 struggle.”
‘Conserving 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 more than likely going to retread the grounds that earlier rounds of talks have trod, which is basically …facilitating the trade of prisoners, the handing over of troopers’ stays.”
He stated Kyiv was additionally keen to boost the problem of the return of kids 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 stated.
“It’s prone to be simply protecting the dialogue going and ensuring that there’s progress on not less than these small elementary areas.”
Bloodshed continues
The talks are as a consequence of be held as Russia continues its bloody offensive towards its neighbour, with its forces mounting sustained efforts to interrupt via at japanese 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 individuals, together with two 13-year-olds, have been injured, he stated on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Air Power stated Moscow had launched 71 drones and decoys in a single day, of which 45 have been intercepted or introduced down, the company reported.
