Latest news with #UkrainianForeignMinistry
LBCI
02-06-2025
- General
- LBCI
Ukraine-Russia talks begin in Istanbul
Ukrainian and Russian delegations have begun a second round of peace talks in Istanbul, where they are set to exchange plans for how they want to end the three-year war. "A meeting between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia began in Istanbul in the presence of the Turkish side," the Ukrainian foreign ministry wrote on social media, while footage from inside Istanbul's Ciragan Palace showed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan delivering opening remarks to negotiators sitting opposite each other. AFP
News.com.au
29-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Russia says Ukraine not responding on Istanbul talks
Russia on Thursday said it was still waiting for Ukraine to commit to new talks in Istanbul on Monday, after Kyiv demanded Moscow send its peace terms before pledging to attend the meeting. Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have gained pace in recent months, but Russia has maintained an intense bombardment of Ukraine and repeatedly rebuffed calls for an immediate ceasefire. Moscow offered to hold a second round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2, when it said it would present a "memorandum" outlining its conditions for a long-term peace settlement. Ukraine said the meeting would not yield results unless it saw a copy of the memorandum in advance, a proposal the Kremlin dismissed. "As far as I know, no response has been received yet... we need to wait for a response from the Ukrainian side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling Kyiv's demand to hand over its peace terms "non-constructive". Ukraine said it had already submitted its own vision of a peace settlement to Russia and demanded Moscow do the same. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was "doing everything they can to make the meetings empty. And this is another reason why there must be sufficient sanctions, sufficient pressure on Russia." "We continue to urge (Russia) to share this document," said Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tykhy. Moscow's refusal to send the document "suggests that it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums", he said. - 'Shut the door' - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Russia and Ukraine not to "shut the door" on dialogue ahead of the anticipated second round of talks in Istanbul. Negotiations in Istanbul on May 16 -- the first direct talks on ending the conflict in more than three years -- yielded only a prisoner exchange and promises to stay in touch. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharov told state television the Kremlin planned to send the same negotiating team as was at the earlier talks. That was led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Kremlin aid who also took part in talks in 2022 in the weeks after Russia launched its offensive. After the May 16 talks, Ukraine accused Russia of outlining unrealistic demands, including calls to cede territory Kyiv still controls. The Russian offensive, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the destruction of large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine. Russian forces have moved forward on the battlefield while pushing peace demands that include Ukraine abandoning its NATO ambitions and giving up around a fifth of its land. The Russian army said Thursday it had captured three villages in Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv regions in its latest advance. Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was expected to travel to Kyiv on Thursday to meet Zelensky, after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a peace deal, has become increasingly frustrated with Moscow's apparent stalling, and warned Wednesday he would determine within "about two weeks" whether Putin was serious about ending the fighting. Local authorities in Ukraine said Thursday Russia had fired 90 drones overnight. At least seven people were killed in drone, missile and artillery strikes across five frontline Ukrainian regions, officials said. Russia said it had repelled 48 Ukrainian drones overnight, including three near Moscow. Trump told reporters he was "very disappointed" at Russia's deadly bombardment during the negotiating process, but rebuffed calls to impose more sanctions on Moscow. Kyiv has accused Russia of deliberately stalling the peace process to pursue its offensive. Zelensky earlier this week said Russia was "amassing" more than 50,000 troops on the front line around Sumy, where Moscow's army has captured a number of settlements as it seeks to establish what Putin has called a "buffer zone" inside Ukrainian territory. bur/tw/jhb
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Ukrainian diplomat expelled from Hungary, Kyiv calls it "anti-Ukrainian hysteria"
A Ukrainian citizen who used to hold a diplomatic post was detained in the heart of the Hungarian capital of Budapest on Friday 9 May and later deported. Source: Hungarian news portal Telex; European Pravda Details: Telex noted that a video of the man's detention had been released by the Hungarian government's press service. Budapest reported that officers from the Counter Terrorism Centre had detained a Ukrainian citizen in the centre of Budapest. Quote: "The General Directorate for Foreigners and Migration issued a decision to ban him from entering and staying in the country on suspicion of espionage. After establishing the circumstances... the man was expelled from the territory of Hungary, given that his activities significantly jeopardised the sovereignty of our country." Details: According to Telex, the man who was detained and deported from Hungary, only referred to as S.A., appears to be a former diplomat at the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest from several years ago, who has not held diplomatic status in Hungary for a long time. His wife is a co-owner of a Ukrainian restaurant in Budapest. Currently, S.A. has left Hungary and is in Kyiv. Commenting on the situation, Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, stressed that "it is high time Hungarian authorities put an end to the senseless anti-Ukrainian hysteria". He also stressed that "when evidence runs out, the witch hunt begins". Background: On Friday, Ukraine's Security Service announced it had uncovered a Hungarian military intelligence network engaged in espionage in Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine's west. The network was reportedly assessing the mood of local residents and gauging their reaction to the possible presence of Hungarian peacekeepers in the oblast. Initially, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said Budapest had not received any official notification from Kyiv about the uncovered Hungarian spy network, and referred to the reports as "anti-Hungarian propaganda". However, a few hours later, Budapest announced the expulsion of two Ukrainian diplomats, accusing them of espionage. Ukraine responded by expelling two Hungarian diplomats. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
