Russia and Ukraine are holding their first direct peace talks in three years in Istanbul

Russia and Ukraine held their first straight peace talks in over three years on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey.

In Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian peace negotiators met for the first time in over three years. This was because US President Donald Trump wants to end Europe’s deadliest war since the Second World War.

Russian and Ukrainian officials were negotiating with a Turkish group, which was shown on live video. At the start of the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke to the participants.

There had not been direct talks between the two countries since March 2022, just one month after Russia invaded. The talks, which took place at the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus, were a rare political step forward.

However, hopes for big progress were dashed on Thursday when Trump said that big progress could not be expected until he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As he was leaving the Middle East and getting ready to go back to the U.S., Trump said on Friday that he would meet with Putin “as soon as we can set it up.”

The head of Ukraine’s delegation laid out the city’s objectives and insisted that peace could only come about if Russia agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, the return of Ukrainian children who had been taken, and the exchange of all prisoners of war.

Russia wants to end the conflict diplomatically and is willing to talk about a ceasefire, but it has also raised worries, saying that Ukraine could use the break to rest its forces, get more troops ready, and buy more Western weapons.

Ukrainians and their friends say that President Putin is stalling, which makes them doubt his desire to make peace. Even though Putin suggested that they meet in person in Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged him to do so. Instead, Putin sent a group of mid-level officials. Ukraine reacted by putting in place negotiators of the same level.

They were joined by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. They were in Istanbul earlier on Friday for a number of different meetings.

When he spoke on Thursday night, Rubio was skeptical about the chances of a breakthrough because of the high levels of delegates involved. “I wish I were wrong.” Hopefully I’m completely wrong. I hope the news tomorrow says that they’ve agreed to stop fighting and start real talks. “But, to be honest, I’m just giving you my opinion,” he said.

In the meantime, Russia said it had taken over another village as part of its slow but steady progress in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian media reported an air alert and blasts in the city of Dnipro just minutes before the meeting in Istanbul started.