A Russian delegation is heading to Istanbul for the latest round of peace talks with Ukrainian counterparts, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warning that the negotiations are expected to be “very difficult”. A Ukrainian delegation, led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, arrived in Ankara for bilateral meetings with Turkish officials ahead of the talks with Russia in Istanbul. Kyiv is ready to take significant steps towards peace and a full ceasefire, a Ukrainian diplomatic source told Reuters.
The talks, the third iteration in recent months, will be held in the Turkish city on Wednesday evening. Peskov said the meeting would cover the positions outlined in draft memoranda presented by each side, as well as prisoner exchanges. However, expectations of a breakthrough are muted, with Peskov stating that there is no reason “to hope for some miraculous breakthroughs”, saying such an outcome is “hardly possible”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined his country’s goals from the negotiations, which include securing the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war, stopping the killings, and preparing a leaders’ meeting aimed at truly bringing the war to an end. “Our position is fully transparent,” he said. “Ukraine never wanted this war, and it is Russia that must end the war that it started.”
Zelenskyy also said work was being carried out to prepare rounds of prisoner exchanges agreed to at the previous talks with Russia. “Throughout this spring and summer, we have managed to significantly intensify the exchange process,” he said. “Among those freed from captivity are people who had been listed as missing, as well as those who have been held in Russian prisons and camps since before the full-scale war.”
The talks are due to be held as Russia continues its bloody offensive against its neighbour, with its forces mounting sustained efforts to break through at eastern and northeastern points on the 1,000km (620-mile) front line. On Wednesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine’s northeast Sumy region, about 6km (3.7 miles) from the border.
In recent weeks, Putin announced his intention to create a “buffer zone” in the Sumy region by occupying Ukrainian border areas. In other recent violence, Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed a 66-year-old woman overnight, the dpa news agency reported, quoting regional military governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three people, including two 13-year-olds, were injured, he said on Telegram.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Kyiv, said there was no expectation that the talks would “be especially productive”. “They are most likely going to retread the grounds that previous rounds of talks have trod, which is essentially …facilitating the exchange of prisoners, the handing over of soldiers’ remains,” he said. “But I don’t think there’s any expectation here that these talks are going to be any significant breakthrough towards peace. It’s likely to be just keeping the dialogue going and making sure that there is progress on at least those small fundamental areas”.