Desk: For the first time since the war began over three years ago, representatives from Russia and Ukraine held direct peace talks. However, the meeting, held in Türkiye, lasted less than two hours and ended without any agreement on a ceasefire. Tensions have escalated further as Russia refused to discuss a truce, while Ukraine insisted that peace could not be negotiated unless the guns fall silent on both sides.
Initially, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were expected to participate in the talks, along with former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had hinted at joining. However, both Putin and Trump withdrew at the last moment, reducing the dialogue to a meeting between senior officials from both countries.
Ukraine maintained that even a temporary ceasefire was necessary to hold meaningful dialogue. A spokesperson from Ukraine’s foreign ministry stated that Russia refused to accept this condition. Meanwhile, Russia’s representative Vladimir Medinsky expressed satisfaction with the discussions. Zelensky later said that he has appealed to leaders from the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., and Poland to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow if Russia does not agree to an unconditional ceasefire.
Agreement on Prisoner Exchange
The only outcome of the talks was an agreement to release 1,000 prisoners from both sides. Russian officials said both countries agreed to propose new ceasefire frameworks, but Ukraine remained dissatisfied, stating that Russia failed to respond positively. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia had demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from large parts of the country — a condition Kyiv considers a strategic ploy.
Ukraine reiterated that any ceasefire must align with the terms proposed by its Western allies. U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump, speaking from Abu Dhabi, remarked, “Now we need to make things happen.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, confirmed that a delegation led by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov met with a Russian delegation headed by Putin’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky. A photo from the meeting showed the two sides seated opposite each other around a U-shaped table.
Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opened the session, urging both parties to seize the opportunity for peace, emphasizing the urgent need for a ceasefire. Despite this initiative, many officials and observers believe that the Türkiye-brokered talks are unlikely to yield any immediate breakthroughs in ending the prolonged conflict.