Russia proposes new Ukraine talks

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia said Wednesday it wanted new talks with Ukraine in Istanbul next Monday to present its plan for a peace settlement, but Kyiv said it needed to see the proposal in advance for the meeting to yield results.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had briefed his US counterpart Marco Rubio on the proposal.

“Our delegation, led by Vladimir Medinsky, is ready to present a memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation and provide the necessary explanations during a second round of direct talks in Istanbul on Monday, June 2,” Lavrov said in a video statement.

Ukraine said it had already submitted its peace terms to Russia and demanded Moscow do the same.

“We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their memorandum,” Ukrainian defense minister Rustem Umerov, who negotiated for Kyiv at the last talks, said in a post on X.

“The Russian side has at least four more days before their departure to provide us with their document for review. Diplomacy must be substantive, and the next meeting must yield results.”

Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have accelerated in recent months, but Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire and shown no signs of scaling back its maximalist demands.

The two sides previously met in Istanbul on 16 May, their first direct talks in over three years. That encounter failed to yield a breakthrough.

United States President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a peace deal, has become increasingly frustrated with Moscow’s apparent stalling and warned Wednesday he would determine within “about two weeks” whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin was serious about ending the fighting.

Moscow’s offensive, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the destruction of large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The Russian military now controls around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean peninsula which it annexed in 2014.