A new round of direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow might take place on Wednesday or Thursday this week – but Moscow said the date has not been finalized yet.
The reports came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday evening that the talks would resume this week.
The Turkish edition of The Independent, citing its “diplomatic sources,” reported on Monday that Istanbul would host two major international talks this week – one of which is presumably related to Iran’s nuclear program, and the other the Kyiv-Moscow talks.
Details on the time, location and delegation remain unclear, it wrote.
The outlet said the agenda might be “humanitarian aid, prisoner exchanges, infrastructure security, and border security measures” – with no ceasefire mentioned.
Russian state media TASS reported on Monday morning that the dates have not been confirmed, citing its own source.
Zelensky, while confirming the talks’ resumption on Saturday, said Kyiv expects more from Moscow this time.
“The Russian side needs to stop hiding from decisions. Exchange of prisoners. Return of children. Stop the killings. And a meeting at the level of leaders is needed to really ensure peace – a truly lasting one. Ukraine is ready for such a meeting,” Zelensky said.
Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have thus far failed to result in any progress toward even a semblance of a ceasefire. In fact, the air attacks from both sides have stepped up.
The talks did, however, yield large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of soldiers killed.
On July 16, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also reiterated Moscow’s weeks-long call for Kyiv to return to the direct talks that Kyiv had presumably ignored following Moscow’s decision to send a historian to the last two rounds of Istanbul talks, both of which failed to produce a ceasefire as intended.
The new talks also take place following Washington’s U-turn on Ukraine, with US President Donald Trump issuing a 50-day ultimatum for Moscow to move toward a ceasefire or face crushing sanctions and secondary tariffs.
However, it remains unclear whether a ceasefire will be discussed during the upcoming talks.