Türkiye hopes for progress on new Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul

Türkiye, which in May brought the parties to the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the negotiating table for the first time in three years, is once again set to host talks in Istanbul on June 2.

"As President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already noted, we are expecting progress on a ceasefire and the alignment of positions. It is important to continue the negotiation process in order to stop the war. Türkiye is ready to do everything possible to achieve this goal," said a representative of the Turkish presidential administration, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Turkish state broadcaster TRT.

Notably, a new round of negotiations on the Ukraine conflict is expected to take place at the Çırağan Palace, TRT announced on June 1.

Later on the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Kyiv’s delegation in negotiations with Moscow will once again be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.

To recall, the first face-to-face meeting in years between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in Türkiye on May 16. That round of talks led to an agreement on a significant prisoner exchange deal based on a “1,000-for-1,000” framework. The exchange was successfully implemented in three phases over the past weekend.

By Khagan Isayev