Putin approves Russian delegation for talks with Ukraine in Istanbul
Moscow, May 15 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the composition of the Russian delegation for upcoming talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey, according to a Kremlin statement.
The delegation will be led by Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky and include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin; Igor Kostyukov, chief of the main directorate of the general staff of the Russian army; and Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, Xinhua news agency reported.
Apart from the delegation members, a list of four experts was also approved for the talks.
Putin also appointed experts to help with the talks. The list includes Alexander Zorin, first deputy head of the information department at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Yelena Podobreyevskaya, deputy head of the Presidential Directorate for State Policy in the Humanitarian Area; Alexey Polishchuk, director of the Second Department of CIS countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry; and Viktor Shevtsov, deputy head of the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation at the Russian Defence Ministry.
According to Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov, Moscow and Kyiv on May 15 will resume the talks that they held in 2022 — before they were suspended at the suggestion of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Russian delegation heading to Istanbul plans to discuss both technical and political issues.
In a statement last Sunday, Putin proposed the resumption of direct negotiations with Ukraine on May 15 in Istanbul.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said he would be in Turkey on Thursday and expected to meet Putin.
“I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing,” Zelensky wrote in his social media platform late Wednesday night.
The Russian delegation will address political and technical issues at talks in Istanbul, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday, reported Xinhua news agency.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia’s delegation will be in Istanbul on Thursday and Moscow will announce the names of its negotiators once Putin decides.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha on Wednesday in Turkey’s city of Antalya before the upcoming Russia-Ukraine peace talks scheduled in Istanbul.
According to a report by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, Fidan told Sybiha that Turkey is ready to provide all kinds of support, including holding talks, to help achieve peace.
After the meeting, Sybiha wrote on the social media platform X that he and Fidan thoroughly discussed ways to advance a “meaningful peace process”.
“I reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to peace, our immediate and unconditional readiness for a full and durable ceasefire, as well as our offer of the highest-level direct meeting between Ukraine and Russia,” he wrote.
—
