Official: Ukraine-Russia Istanbul talks unlikely to yield major peace breakthrough

The recent Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul are unlikely to yield major breakthroughs, with the primary outcome expected to be a prisoner exchange, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia said.

Speaking to a Ukrainian media outlet, Kyslytsia explained that the current negotiation format cannot change the broader conflict, primarily due to the “dictatorial nature” of the Russian regime, where all decisions rest with President Vladimir Putin, Caliber.Az reports.

He stressed that meaningful progress hinges on a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin.

“We raised this in May and June,” Kyslytsia said, noting that the Russian side insists their demands must be met before any such meeting can take place.

He added that even a trilateral meeting involving U.S. President Donald Trump might be necessary to break the ongoing deadlock.

Ukraine and Russia have so far held two rounds of negotiations, on May 16 and June 2, 2025, aimed at ending the war. 

Despite these efforts, the Kremlin has refused to agree to a temporary 30-day ceasefire and continues to push demands that Kyiv considers unacceptable. Moscow’s conditions for any truce include halting mobilisation and stopping Western arms supplies.

For a permanent peace settlement, Russia demands official recognition of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea as Russian territories, a declaration of Ukrainian neutrality, and a commitment not to join NATO or other military alliances in the future.

The only agreement reached so far relates to prisoner exchanges and the return of fallen soldiers’ bodies.

Following the talks on June 2, delegations from both sides tentatively agreed that a face-to-face meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin could help jumpstart the stalled peace process. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has offered to assist in organising such a meeting, with Kyiv expressing a preference to hold it between June 20 and 30.

By Aghakazim Guliyev