The first direct peace discussions between Russia And Ukraine In more than three years, lasted much less than two hours, without any apparent sign of progress to reduce the gap between the sides, and a Ukrainian source called Moscow “Non-Starters” requests.
The delegations on the sides at war met in a palace in Türkiye on Friday, their first face -to -face meeting since March 2022, the months after the invasion by Russia of its neighbor by Russia.
The chasm between the two parties was quickly apparent, according to the Ukrainian source which told Reuters that Russia’s requests were “detached from reality and went far beyond everything that had been discussed previously”.
They included ultimatums so that Ukraine withdraws from certain parts of its own territory in order to obtain a ceasefire “and other non-starters and non-constructive conditions,” the source told Reuters under the cover of anonymity.
There was no immediate word on the Russian side.
The expectations for a major, already weak breakthrough were tanned on Thursday when US President Donald Trump, wrapping a tour of the Middle East, said that there would be no movement without a meeting between him and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said kyiv’s absolute priority was “a complete, unconditional and honest cease-fire … to stop murder and create a solid base for diplomacy”. He said that if Russia refused, it should be struck by strong sanctions of strong sanctions against its energy sector and its banks.
Russia says it wants to end the war by diplomatic means and is ready to discuss a ceasefire. But he raised a list of questions and concerns, saying that Ukraine could use a break to rest his forces, mobilize additional troops and acquire more Western weapons.
Ukraine and its allies accuse Putin of blocking and say that he does not want to seriously want peace.
No words on if discussions could resume
The two parties are under pressure from Trump to put an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. There was no immediate announcement on the question of whether discussions could resume, or when.
The delegates were seated in the face of each other, the Russians in costume and half of the Ukrainians wearing military camouflage fatigue.
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“There are two paths in front of us: a road will take us to a process that will lead to peace, while the other will lead to more destruction and death. The parties will decide on their own, with their own will, what path they choose,” said Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan, told them at the start of the meeting.
The Ukrainian source said that the Ukrainians had spoken in their own language, although Russian is widely spoken and understood in Ukraine.
It was Putin who proposed the direct talks to Türkiye, but he rejected Zelenskiy’s challenge to meet him in person, rather sending a team of intermediate level officials. Ukraine responded by naming the negotiators of similar rank.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had declared on the eve of the meeting that no major breakthrough was likely, depending on the level of the negotiation teams.
“I hope that I am 100%wrong. I hope that tomorrow, the news indicates that they have accepted a ceasefire; they agreed to take serious negotiations. But I just give you my evaluation, honestly,” he said.
Russia said on Friday that it had captured another village in its slow and crushing advance in eastern Ukraine. A few minutes before the start of the Istanbul meeting, the Ukrainian media reported an air alert and explosions in the city of Dnipro.
Russia says that it considers talks as a continuation of the negotiations that took place in the first weeks of the war in 2022, also in Istanbul.
But the terms under discussion then, when Ukraine was still in shock from the initial invasion of Russia, would be deeply disadvantaged for kyiv. They included a moscow request for large cuts to the size of the Ukrainian soldiers.
Zelenskiy chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Russian attempts to align new talks on unsuccessful previous negotiations would fail.
The Russian forces now control almost a fifth in Ukraine, Putin quickly held her long -standing requests to give in the territory, abandon her ambitions for membership in NATO and become a neutral country.
Ukraine rejects these terms as equivalent to capitulation and seeks guarantees of its future security of the world powers, in particular the United States.
– The press writer associates Aamer Madhani with Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.