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Russia, Ukraine Hold Peace Talks 05/16 06:12
Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years
Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials
and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the
more than three-year war.
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace
talks in three years Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered
negotiations, but officials and observers expected them to yield little
immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov sat down with a
low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, according
to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi, who published a
photo of the meeting.
The officials present sat around a U-shaped table, with the Russians and
Ukrainians facing each other.
A senior Ukrainian official close to the talks said that Kyiv's delegation
was prepared to "achieve a lot today" and with a real mandate to resolve key
issues. The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to make official statements, said the
outcome hinges on whether Moscow is equally serious.
Both countries have tried to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump, who has
expressed frustration over the slow progress and threatened to punish
foot-dragging, that they are eager to resolve the conflict amid extensive
diplomatic maneuvering.
The latest push to end the fighting got off to a rocky start on Thursday,
when Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian leader
Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face. Delegations from the two countries
also flew to different Turkish cities and put together teams of significantly
different diplomatic heft for possible talks.
Although expectations for a possible Putin-Zelenskyy meeting were low, the
apparent lack of traction in peace efforts frustrated hopes of bold steps being
taken in Turkey toward reaching a settlement.
The two sides remain far part
The two sides are far apart in their conditions for ending the war, and
Trump said Thursday during a trip to the Middle East that a meeting between
himself and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock.
On Friday, Trump said a meeting with Putin would happen "as soon as we can
set it up."
"I think it's time for us to just do it," Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
Comments Friday by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov appeared to indicate
that momentum for a summit is building, as Peskov told reporters top-level
talks were "certainly needed." But he noted that preparing a summit would take
time.
Ukraine has accepted a U.S. and European proposal for a full, 30-day
ceasefire, but Putin has effectively rejected it by imposing far-reaching
conditions.
Meantime, Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian
government and Western military analysts say.
Russia's invasion has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, the U.N.
says, and razed towns and villages. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers
have died, and likely a larger number of Russian troops, officials and analysts
say.
On the battlefield, one Ukrainian soldier said he wasn't hopeful that the
talks would bring a swift end to the war.
"I don't think they will agree on anything concrete, because summer is the
best time for war," he said, using only the call sign "Corsair," in keeping
with the rules of the Ukrainian military. "The enemy is trying to constantly
escalate the situation."
But he told The Associated Press that many of his fellow soldiers "believe
that by the end of the year there will be peace, albeit an unstable one, but
peace."
A Friday morning drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk
killed a 55-year-old woman and wounded four men, Oleh Syniehubov, head of the
Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, said. All the victims worked for a
municipal utility.
After Putin didn't take up Zelenskyy's challenge to sit down with him in the
Turkish capital on Thursday, the Ukrainian president accused Moscow of not
making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team
that he described as "a theater prop."
Even so, Zelenskyy said that he was sending a team headed by his defense
minister to Friday's meeting in Istanbul. That would show Trump that Ukraine is
determined to press ahead with peace efforts despite Russian foot-dragging,
Zelenskyy said, amid intense diplomatic maneuvering by Kyiv and Moscow.
The Russian delegation also includes three other senior officials, the
Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as "experts" for
the talks.
A flurry of diplomatic activity in Istanbul
A flurry of diplomatic activity took place in Istanbul before the talks.
Ukrainian officials held an early-morning meeting with national security
advisers from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to
coordinate positions, a senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The U.S. team was led by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump's special
envoy to Ukraine and Russia, while Umerov and presidential office chief Andriy
Yermak represented Ukraine, the official said.
A three-way meeting between Turkey, the U.S. and Ukraine also took place,
Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. The U.S. side included Secretary of
State Marco Rubio as well as Kellogg.
Rubio on Thursday said he didn't foresee major developments in Istanbul.
"We don't have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow. And frankly,
at this point, I think it's abundantly clear that the only way we're going to
have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin," Rubio
told reporters Thursday in Antalya, Turkey.
Zelenskyy, meantime, flew to Albania to attend a meeting Friday of the
leaders of 47 European countries to discuss security, defense and democratic
standards against the backdrop of the war.
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