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Ukraine accuses Russia of undermining peace talks with new demands
Peter Beaumont
Peter Beaumont is in Kyiv for the Guardian
Ukraine has accused Russia of undermining peace talks in Istanbul by making new demands to exclude Turkey and the US from discussions at the last minute.
As if to confirm the very low expectations of the direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, the Latvia based Russian language news site, Meduza, is saying that it has seen a memo to Russian state controlled media reporting the meetings to talk down prospects of a breakthrough.
Instead the memo suggested the talks will end deadlocked with Russia facing the prospect of renewed European sanctions which – journalist should emphasise – “will not harm the country’s development” suggesting that it sees the talks as inevitably failing.
According to the report, which does not mention what Russia’s position at the talks is likely to entail, the memo instructs journalists to say that Ukraine’s position at the talks is worse than at the last direct talks in Istanbul in 2022.
More broadly, however, the presence of Russian’s president Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky leading the Moscow delegation is seen as part of an effort to insist that the talks represent a continuation of the 2022 talks where the Kremlin insisted on Ukraine’s effective surrender.
Medinsky told journalists on 15 May that Russia considers the talks as a “continuation” of echoing Putin’s demand that any negotiations would be based on the April 2022 Istanbul protocols.
Versions of those draft agreements acquired by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times last year saw Moscow demanding Ukraine give up aspirations for Nato membership, adopt a position of neutrality in its constitution, and prohibit Ukraine from hosting foreign military personnel or weapons systems.
The claimed disclosure of Moscow’s news management strategy for domestic consumption comes amid reports that Russia was demanding that direct talks with Ukraine take place without US and Turkish representatives. A Ukrainian diplomatic source said the move showed Moscow was “undermining the peace effort”.
“Yet another sign of the Russian side undermining the peace effort. We came to have a serious conversation, while Russians are putting forward demands, conditions. This makes us doubt whether Putin sent them to solve issues or just stall the process,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
“There is only one reason for the Russians to be afraid of having the US in the room – they came to stall the process, not solve issues, and they want to hide this from the US.”
Expectations for the talks – initially proposed by Putin – sank after the Russian leader declined Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to meet at the presidential level in Turkey. The presence of Donald Trump was also suggested, but the US president is returning to the US after his trip to the Middle East.
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Russian media is reporting that Vladimir Medinsky has arrived at the Dolmabahçe palace for talks with the Ukrainian delegation. RIA reports a diplomatic source has told it that the head of Turkish intelligence İbrahim Kalın will join the talks.
Separately, Reuters is reporting that US secretary of state Marco Rubio is meeting with security advisers from the UK, France and Germany.
Tass reports that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had this to say about the prospect of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
During his daily briefing, the Russian president’s spokesperson said a meeting between the pair was certainly necessary, but must be preceded by careful preparation.
He added that contacts between Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement, and that any meeting between the two should involve a serious discussion of international affairs and regional issues, including Ukraine.
Ukraine accuses Russia of undermining peace talks with new demands
Peter Beaumont
Peter Beaumont is in Kyiv for the Guardian
Ukraine has accused Russia of undermining peace talks in Istanbul by making new demands to exclude Turkey and the US from discussions at the last minute.
As if to confirm the very low expectations of the direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, the Latvia based Russian language news site, Meduza, is saying that it has seen a memo to Russian state controlled media reporting the meetings to talk down prospects of a breakthrough.
Instead the memo suggested the talks will end deadlocked with Russia facing the prospect of renewed European sanctions which – journalist should emphasise – “will not harm the country’s development” suggesting that it sees the talks as inevitably failing.
According to the report, which does not mention what Russia’s position at the talks is likely to entail, the memo instructs journalists to say that Ukraine’s position at the talks is worse than at the last direct talks in Istanbul in 2022.
More broadly, however, the presence of Russian’s president Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky leading the Moscow delegation is seen as part of an effort to insist that the talks represent a continuation of the 2022 talks where the Kremlin insisted on Ukraine’s effective surrender.
Medinsky told journalists on 15 May that Russia considers the talks as a “continuation” of echoing Putin’s demand that any negotiations would be based on the April 2022 Istanbul protocols.
Versions of those draft agreements acquired by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times last year saw Moscow demanding Ukraine give up aspirations for Nato membership, adopt a position of neutrality in its constitution, and prohibit Ukraine from hosting foreign military personnel or weapons systems.
The claimed disclosure of Moscow’s news management strategy for domestic consumption comes amid reports that Russia was demanding that direct talks with Ukraine take place without US and Turkish representatives. A Ukrainian diplomatic source said the move showed Moscow was “undermining the peace effort”.
“Yet another sign of the Russian side undermining the peace effort. We came to have a serious conversation, while Russians are putting forward demands, conditions. This makes us doubt whether Putin sent them to solve issues or just stall the process,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
“There is only one reason for the Russians to be afraid of having the US in the room – they came to stall the process, not solve issues, and they want to hide this from the US.”
Expectations for the talks – initially proposed by Putin – sank after the Russian leader declined Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to meet at the presidential level in Turkey. The presence of Donald Trump was also suggested, but the US president is returning to the US after his trip to the Middle East.
In Moscow, Dmitry Peskov has been giving the daily Kremlin press briefing. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
This, via Reuters, is from a source in the Ukraine delegation, who accused Russia of “undermining the peace effort” by demanding changes to the format of this morning’s expected meeting.
Russia appears to have attempted to sideline the US and Turkish delegations and insist upon the meeting only featuring Russia and the country it invaded in 2022.
“Yet another sign of the Russian side undermining the peace effort. We came to have a serious conversation, while Russians are putting forward demands, conditions. This makes us doubt whether Putin sent them to solve issues or just stall the process,” the source told the news agency on condition of anonymity.
“There is only one reason for the Russians to be afraid of having the US in the room – they came to stall the process, not solve issues, and they want to hide this from the US.”
While we wait to see whether and in what format talks will take place in Turkey, Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its forces have taken control of the settlement of Vilne Pole in the east of Ukraine.
There appears to be a hold up in Istanbul. A diplomatic source from Ukraine has told Reuters that the Russian delegation was asking that talks take place directly without US or Turkish delegations being present.
More details soon …
Reuters has spoken to a source from the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul, who said there was a need for “confidence-building measures”.
“We understand that for any diplomacy to be resultative, there needs to be a ceasefire. Real, durable and well monitored,” Reuters reports the source said.
“There also needs to be humanitarian confidence-building measures, such as the return of Ukrainian children, detained civilians, exchange of prisoners of war on the all-for-all basis.”
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that the Ukraine delegation is shortly set to meet with Russia’s delegation in Istanbul.
Here is another handout photo from today’s round of diplomacy, showing Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan with Ukraine’s president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Ruth Michaelson
Ruth Michaelson is in Istanbul for the Guardian
The meeting between the Ukrainian, Turkish and American delegations has kicked off at the Dolmabahçe palace in Istanbul.
Heading the Turkish side are foreign minister and Ankara’s longtime negotiator Hakan Fidan, who president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once referred to as the state’s “secret keeper.” He is flanked by intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın, a charismatic fluent English speaker who was previously Erdoğan’s longtime adviser.
The Ukrainian team is composed of defence minister Rustem Umerov, foreign minister Andriy Sybiha who has also been in Antalya in recent days for meetings with his counterparts in Nato, as well as Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to the Ukrainian president.
The American delegation includes secretary of state Marco Rubio, recently arrived ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, and US envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, who recently warned that Washington and Europe could impose far tougher sanctions on Russia if it doesn’t agree to a ceasefire.
The Turkish foreign ministry has also just shared a collection of photos showing the various high level officials gathering outside in the rather gloomy Istanbul weather after the talks, including one of Rubio, Umerov, Fidan, Kalın and Yermek all smiling as they mill around in the courtyard outside Dolmabahçe. Indications from these images suggest the meeting was positive, but details remain thin on the ground.
Nato's Rutte: Putin has made a mistake by sending low-level delegation to Turkey
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said that it is a good thing that the Ukrainians have come to the negotiating table and added that Russian President Vladimir now has to play ball, Reuters reports.
“All the pressure is on him,” Rutte said, speaking at a meeting of EU leaders in Albania. He added that Putin had made a mistake by sending a low-level delegation to talks in Turkey.
Reuters reports that sources have told it the first meeting this morning, between Turkey, the US and Ukraine, has started in Istanbul. The Turkish foreign ministry has issued this handout photo.
Here is a view of vehicles arriving at Dolmabahçe palace in Istanbul ahead of today’s talks.
Low expectations as Ukrainian and Russian delegations set to meet in Istanbul
Ruth Michaelson
Ruth Michaelson is in Istanbul for the Guardian
Two sessions of talks are due today here in Istanbul, but expectations remain low. US secretary of state Marco Rubio has landed and is expected at the Dolmabahçe palace for talks with Ukrainian and Turkish officials.
Around an hour later, just after midday local time, the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams will meet alongside Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan.
The composition of these meetings, particularly the second one involving Russian officials, is likely to underscore Ukrainian complaints that Russian president Vladimir Putin dispatched lower-level officials to Turkey for negotiations.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Russian delegation “decorative,” yesterday, adding that the collection of deputy ministers led by Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky doesn’t include “anyone who actually makes decisions.” By contrast, the Ukrainian team will be led by defence minister and experienced negotiator Rustem Umerov.
Medinsky hit back at this in an extremely brief and hastily arranged press conference outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul, telling reporters in hushed tones that his team “has the power to make decisions.”
The Russian side views the talks as “a continuation,” of failed talks in 2022, he added.
The Russian team also held late-night talks with Fidan at the Dolmabahçe palace last night, which Medinsky described on Telegram as “productive.” The meeting appeared to last just over an hour, based on statements put out by the Turkish state news agency.
Umerov’s team will be looking “to attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war – namely, a ceasefire”, according to Zelenskyy’s comments yesterday in Ankara.
Washington also appears to have low expectations that today’s talks will produce a substantive outcome. Rubio told reporters yesterday during his meetings in the southern Turkish city of Antalya that there is little optimism about the potential outcome of these meetings.
“I want to be frank … we don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow,” he said.
US president Donald Trump echoed the same sentiment as he landed in Dubai on the final stop of his tour of the Middle East, adding that little was likely to be achieved unless he could meet with Putin directly.
“Nothing’s going to happen until Russian President Vladimir Putin and I get together, OK?” he said. “I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there.”
Reuters has a quick snap that speaking in Abu Dhabi, US president Donald Trump has said he is returning to the US.
Yesterday he had said he might head to Turkey to take part in Ukraine-Russia talks if it would be helpful, suggesting that nothing would happen to develop a peace plan until he and Russian president Vladimir Putin met in person.
