Russia and Ukraine to talk about peace but remain far apart

Russian and Ukrainian officials are due to sit down on Monday in the Turkish city of Istanbul for their second round of direct peace talks since 2022, but the two sides continue to be far apart on how to end the war as the fighting steps up.

US President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine make peace, but so far they have not and the White House has repeatedly warned the US will “walk away” from the war if the two sides are too stubborn to reach a peace deal.

The first round of talks on May 16 yielded the biggest prisoner swap of the war but no sign of peace, or even a ceasefire as the two sides merely set out their opening negotiating positions.

After keeping the world guessing on whether Ukraine would turn up for the second round, President Volodymyr Zelensky said defence minister Rustem Umerov would meet Russian officials in Istanbul.

The Russian delegation will be headed by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who after the first round invoked French general and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte to assert war and negotiations should always be conducted at the same time.

On Sunday, Ukraine launched one of its most ambitious attacks of the war, targeting Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers in Siberia and other military bases, while the Kremlin launched 472 drones at Ukraine, Ukraine's air force said, the highest nightly total of the war.

The idea of direct talks was first proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin after Ukraine and European powers demanded he agree to a ceasefire, which the Kremlin dismissed.

Putin said Russia would draft a memorandum setting out the broad contours of a possible peace accord and only then discuss a ceasefire.

Kyiv said over the weekend it was waiting for draft memorandum from the Russian side.

Medinsky, the lead Kremlin negotiator, said on Sunday Moscow had received Ukraine's draft memorandum and told Russia’s RIA news agency the Kremlin would react to it on Monday.

According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the two sides will in Turkey present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, though it is clear that after three years of war Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart.

Kellogg has indicated  the US will be involved in the talks and representatives from Britain, France and Germany will be too, though it was not clear at what level the US would be represented.

Ukraine's delegation will also include its deputy foreign minister and several military and intelligence officials, according to an executive order by Zelensky on Sunday.

In June last year, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its Nato ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.

Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present to the Russian side a proposed road map for reaching a lasting peace settlement, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters.

According to the document, there will be no restrictions on Ukraine's military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces and reparations for Ukraine.

The document also stated that the location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory.

Russia controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine, or about 113,100km², about the same size as the US state of Ohio.

Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The US said more 1.2-million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022.

Trump has called Putin “crazy” and berated Zelensky in public in the Oval Office, but the US president has also said he thinks peace is achievable and if Putin delays he could impose tough sanctions on Russia.

Reuters