Istanbul (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – According to the spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, a Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Istanbul for negotiations with Russian officials, with a meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, will chair the negotiations when they begin. It is anticipated that Moscow and Kyiv officials will discuss their intentions for ending the conflict.
The two sides are still at differences on how to end the war, despite an increase in fighting, and they are set to meet for direct peace talks for the second time since 2022. According to US Ambassador Keith Kellogg, the two parties will deliver their separate memoranda in Turkey detailing their proposals for conditions of peace.
What role will Europe play in future negotiations?
According to a spokesman for Kyiv’s foreign ministry, Ukrainian officials in Istanbul have met with representatives from Germany, Italy, and the UK in advance of discussions with Russian delegates later today.
“The sides coordinated positions ahead of today’s meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations,”
the official stated. Ukrainian delegation members reaffirmed Ukraine’s dedication to peace initiatives.
What did the first round of talks accomplish?
The largest prisoner exchange of the conflict was achieved at the first session of negotiations more than a week ago, but there was no feeling of agreement on how to stop the fighting. The two sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, the greatest prisoner swap of the war, but it was the only concrete outcome of the less than two-hour-long negotiations.
How both countries are continuously targeting each other?
On the other hand, In its longest-range attack of the conflict, Ukraine claimed on Sunday to have destroyed Russian warplanes valued at billions of dollars as far away as Siberia. With unconfirmed video evidence showing planes engulfed in flames and black smoke, Ukraine made a stunning claim that it had damaged $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft stored at four airbases hundreds of kilometres away. According to a Ukrainian Security Services source, 41 planes that were deployed to “bomb Ukrainian villages” were struck by the attacks.
Ahead of today’s second round of direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow in Turkey, Russia has also begun attacking in retaliation.
A drone assault on the northeastern province of Sumy injured at least six people, including two children, early on Monday, while Russian shelling and airstrikes killed five people near the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, according to regional officials.
