Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2 with a view to achieving a sustainable peace settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
Responding to Lavrov’s statement, Ukraine said it was ready for direct talks with Russia, but maintained that Moscow needed to provide its peace terms in advance to ensure the encounter yielded results.
“We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their memorandum,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said in a post on X. “The Russian side has at least four more days before their departure to provide us with their document for review.”
Under pressure from US President Donald Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, delegates from the warring countries met earlier this month in Istanbul for the first time since March 2022, the month after Russia sent troops to its neighbour.
The May 16 talks failed to reach agreement on a ceasefire, as sought by Kyiv and its Western allies. Moscow said certain conditions must be met before such a move was possible.
“We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul,” Lavrov said in a statement.
Lavrov briefs Rubio on planned Istanbul talks
Shortly after the statement was released, Lavrov briefed his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Moscow’s preparations for proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul next Monday, the Russian foreign ministry said.
In a phone call, Lavrov told Rubio “about the Russian side’s preparations for specific proposals for the next round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul”, the ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a call with Trump on May 19, said that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord.
Earlier on Wednesday, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation at peace talks on Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app that he had called Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov with proposals for the date and venue of the next meeting.
“Let me emphasise: right there, on the spot, we are ready to begin an essential, substantive discussion of each of the points of the package agreement on a possible ceasefire,” he said.
Separately, Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was agreed that Russia and Ukraine would each prepare their vision of “modalities of settlement and ceasefire” and would discuss and exchange the documents at the next round of talks.
Source: France 24
