Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv will be in Istanbul Friday for what could be their first direct meeting on the conflict in Ukraine since 2022, but the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves little hope for progress in ending the war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed expectations for the peace talks after Moscow sent a low-profile delegation and both sides traded insults ahead of the negotiations, initially slated for Thursday.
"I want to be frank... we don't have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow," Rubio said.
US President Donald Trump had earlier also appeared to concede that progress in Turkey was unlikely, saying there would be no movement towards ending the war until he met Putin.
"I don't believe anything's going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said he did not expect a breakthrough, accusing Moscow of being "not serious" about ending the war.
Putin last week proposed direct negotiations between the two sides, but declined to respond when Zelensky challenged him to attend the talks in person.
The Russian side is being led by Vladimir Medinsky, a hawkish adviser to Putin who has questioned Ukraine's right to exist and led failed talks in 2022 at the start of the war.
Ukraine's delegation will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, along with about a dozen deputy-level officials.
- Setting the tone -
Trump, who is keen to push Russia and Ukraine towards a peace settlement, said he was keeping open the possibility of travelling to Turkey on Friday if there was any meaningful progress.
A Turkish foreign ministry source said talks would proceed Friday in multiple formats.
"Trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are on the agenda" for Friday and there will also be talks between US, Ukrainian and Turkish officials, the source said.
In a televised briefing for Russian media in Istanbul, Medinsky said: "Tomorrow morning, literally from 10 am, we will be waiting for the Ukrainian side, which has to show up to the meeting."
Setting the tone before the talks, Zelensky said Russia had sent a "dummy" delegation, while Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the Ukrainian president a "clown" and "loser".
Outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul, Medinsky told reporters Russia saw the talks as a continuation of failed 2022 negotiations and that he was ready for "possible compromises".
"The delegation is committed to a constructive approach, to finding possible solutions and points of contact. The goal of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side is to eventually establish long-term peace by eliminating the root causes of the conflict," he said.
Zelensky held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday and had expressed hope that talks with Russia would begin on Thursday evening.
After the meeting, Zelensky said that Russia was "not taking the real negotiations very seriously" and said he had sent a high-level delegation "out of respect" for Erdogan and Trump.
- 'Avoiding peace' -
Rubio said he would meet in Istanbul with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and that a lower-level US official would meet the Russians.
Ahead of the planned talks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Putin "must pay the price for avoiding peace" as he prepared to attend a European Political Community (EPC) meeting in Albania on Friday.
The EPC, which brings together the members of the European Union and 20 other countries, was established in 2022 on the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Starmer and Macron will be joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO chief Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
Kyiv and its European allies had called for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire before any negotiations, but Moscow rejected the proposal.
Russia wants Ukraine to make massive territorial concessions, giving up even more land than it has lost on the battlefield, and has also at times sought the removal of Zelensky, pledges of military neutrality and limits on Ukraine's army.
Kyiv and the West reject those calls but Zelensky has conceded that Ukraine might only get back some territory through diplomatic means.
Source: AFP
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