Kyiv calls for full ceasefire while Kremlin expects ‘difficult’ talks ahead of Istanbul meeting

Ukrainian delegates met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Wednesday, a few hours before commencing the third round of peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul, Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on Wednesday.

According to Yermak, the Ukrainian delegation, headed by National Security and Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, who was until recently the country’s defence minister, “thanked Türkiye and President Erdoğan” for their “consistent political and security support” throughout the ongoing war with Russia.

Prior to flying to Istanbul for talks expected to begin at 7pm local time, the Ukrainian delegation also spoke with Erdoğan about the need for a high-level meeting between the Turkish president, Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and US President Donald Trump, Yermak added.

Russia’s delegation, unchanged from previous talks, arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday afternoon, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, which means they will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a presidential aide.

Upon arriving in Istanbul, Medinsky stated that he had “heard” Ukraine’s statements about the need for a meeting between the country’s leaders, but offered little further comment. “I heard that they were talking about that. There is not much time left, please wait and you’ll find out everything later,” he said.

During the first two rounds of negotiations, Zelensky voiced his frustration that Medinsky heading the Kremlin’s delegation made it too “low level”, claiming that “none of [the representatives] were people who actually make decisions in Russia” and calling on Putin to personally meet with him.

On Wednesday, Zelensky also called for an “immediate and complete” ceasefire, particularly “on civilian infrastructure”, following a night of Russian drone attacks on Sumy, in Ukraine’s northeast, which left the city partially without electricity.

Ahead of the first two rounds of negotiations, Zelensky made similar proposals for ceasefires, echoing a 30-day peace plan originally floated by the White House in March, but Russia has yet to indicate any willingness to accept these agreements.

In May and June, after almost a three-year gap in direct discussions between Moscow and Kyiv, the two sides held two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul, which led to agreements governing prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of fallen soldiers.

In June, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations also exchanged draft memoranda explaining what each side wished to see in any permanent peace agreement, which are thought to also be discussed by the two delegations in Istanbul during the third round of negotiations.

Little progress in this regard is expected, however, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said on Wednesday, as the two memoranda were "diametrically opposed”.

“Naturally, no one expects such an ‘easy road’,” he said. “Of course, this will be a very difficult conversation.”