Today's Edition
Istanbul (AFP)
Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet on Monday in Istanbul to exchange their plans on how to end the three-year war, Europe's largest conflict since World War II.
Urged on by US President Donald Trump, Moscow and Kyiv have opened direct negotiations for the first time since the early weeks of the war, but have yet to make significant progress towards an elusive agreement.
At the first round of talks in Istanbul last month, the two sides agreed to a large-scale prisoner exchange and to swap notes on what their vision of a peace deal might look like.
The second set of negotiations is scheduled to get underway at 1:00 pm (1000 GMT) at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, an Ottoman imperial house on the banks of the Bosphorus that is now a luxury five-star hotel.
Russia's negotiators arrived late on Sunday, with Ukraine's team touching down on Monday morning.
Moscow says it will present a "memorandum" of its peace terms, having resisted pressure by Ukraine to send its demands in advance.
Despite the flurry of diplomacy, the two sides remain far apart over a possible deal -- either for a truce or a longer-term settlement.
Outlining Kyiv's position ahead of the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refreshed his call for an immediate halt to the fighting.
"First -- a full and unconditional ceasefire. Second -- the release of prisoners. Third -- the return of abducted children," he said Sunday in a post on social media.
He also called for the sides to discuss a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The key issues can only be resolved by the leaders," Zelensky said.
The Kremlin has repeatedly pushed back on that prospect, saying a Putin-Zelensky meeting could only happen after the negotiating delegations reach wider "agreements".
Russia's top negotiator in Istanbul will be Vladimir Medinsky, an ideological Putin aide. Ukraine's team will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
"Diplomatic advisors" from Germany, France and Britain will be "on the ground... in close coordination with the Ukrainian negotiating team," a German government spokesperson said Sunday.
