Ukraine and Russia meet in Istanbul for second round of talks
Ukraine and Russia have officially begun the second round of peace talks in Istanbul, with the expectation running even lower than when the sides met for the first time two weeks ago.
The first round of negotiations resulted in the largest prisoner exchange in a thousand-for-thousand format, but hasn't yielded much result regarding putting an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This time Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy identified three priorities for Kyiv: a 30-day ceasefire, another prisoner exchange and the return of Ukrainian children forcefully deported by Russia.
The Kremlin hasn't revealed its priorities with the Moscow officials only repeatedly mentioning 'the root causes' of its war against Ukraine.
The Kremlin has been using the term "root causes" in the run-up to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and repeatedly refers to them to justify its all-out war against the neighbouring country.
Kyiv and Moscow reportedly agreed to both submit their "peace memorandum", outlining the key positions of each side before Monday.
The Ukrainian delegation stated that it has presented its detailed roadmap, aimed at securing a lasting peace. Speaking to Russian state media, the head of the Moscow delegation Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that the Russian side had received the Ukrainian peace proposals.
Moscow said repeatedly they it would only announce its demands when the talks restart.
Speaking ahead of the Monday round, Zelenskyy stressed that Russia has not submitted its so-called peace memorandum to Ukraine, Turkey, or the US. "Despite this, we will try to achieve at least some progress on the path toward peace," he said.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya reiterated last Friday that Moscow would only consider a ceasefire if Ukraine halts mobilisation and stops receiving foreign military aid.
Moscow previously also demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four Ukrainian regions, which Moscow claims to have annexed: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Russia does not control all the territories in these regions, yet it "demanded" that Ukraine leave them entirely.
Moscow also allegedly demands that NATO halt its eastward expansion, on top of requesting that Ukraine commit to a neutral status and not join the alliance.
Reuters reported last Thursday that Russia wants to receive a written commitment from Western leaders to cease NATO's expansion.
US President Donald Trump has recently expressed his frustration with Moscow's reluctance to make steps towards a ceasefire and its intensifying and deadly attacks on Ukraine.
At the same time, he has so far refused to impose additional sanctions on Russia.
Over the past few days Trump took to social saying that Putin has gone "absolutely crazy" and is "playing with fire" after Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has called on Trump to deliver a "strong new package" of sanctions against Russia if ongoing peace talks in Istanbul fail to bring results.
Speaking at a joint summit of the Bucharest Nine and Nordic leaders in Vilnius, Zelenskyy stated that the West must be prepared to act decisively.
"If the Istanbul meeting brings nothing, that clearly means strong new sanctions are urgently needed — from the EU's 18th package, and from the US specifically, the strongest sanctions President Trump promised," Zelenskyy said.
The measure "should hit Russian energy — especially oil and tankers — price caps, of course, and also Russian banks and the financial sector overall," he added.
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