The Istanbul talks have begun: the agenda and the Ukrainian memorandum
2 June 15:50
VIDEO
The Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul started, after about an hour and a half delay, at about 2:30 pm.
More than half of the Ukrainian delegation arrived in military uniforms. The Russians look like this:
Before the talks, the parties exchanged their draft memorandums. Nothing is known about the Russian version yet. The Ukrainian draft was published by a Financial Times journalist.
The meeting was opened by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. According to the Russian news agency TASS, he said that very important steps had been taken during the first round of talks between Russia and Ukraine, and that the second round would consider a meeting between the leaders. The issues of ceasefire and prisoner exchange will also be discussed.
