Putin is not going: The media learned who will represent Russia at the talks in Istanbul
14 May 01:27
Russia will be represented at the talks with Ukraine in Turkey by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov. This was reported by The Washington Post, citing information from Kremlin sources.
In turn, the Kremlin has not yet announced who will lead the Russian delegation. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the names would be made public “when the president deems it necessary.”
At Putin’s proposed thresholds, according to the source, Russia is expected to insist on the reinstatement of its 2022 list of demands, a proposal that many see as tantamount to Ukraine’s capitulation.
The first and only face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy took place in Paris at the end of 2019 during the Normandy format summit, which was mediated by France and Germany.
It is known that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will arrive in Turkey on Thursday, but he will not meet with any Russians other than Putin.
Donald Trump’s special representatives Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg will be present from the United States. The US president’s participation in the talks in Turkey depends on the presence of the Russian dictator.
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Positions of the parties on the upcoming talks in Istanbul
On the night of May 11, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced his readiness for direct talks with the Ukrainian side, which are to take place in Istanbul on May 15. However, in his statement, he did not mention a single word about a possible 30-day ceasefire, as the Ukrainian side and its partners want.
US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine must urgently agree to the talks in Turkey proposed by Putin for May 15. At the same time, the American president did not pay attention to the absence of a 30-day truce clause in the Kremlin’s proposal.
Nevertheless, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed and wrote that he would personally wait for Putin in Turkey to meet on May 15. At the same time, he expressed hope that the ceasefire would begin on May 12.
However, after Zelenskyy’s agreement, no official statements have yet followed from the Kremlin. So now, for the first time, the Kremlin has officially confirmed that it is preparing for negotiations.
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