The Kremlin said Thursday, May 29, that it is waiting for a response from Kyiv on a proposed round of peace talks scheduled for Monday in Turkey.
Moscow has offered to hold a second round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2, where it plans to present a so-called “memorandum” outlining its conditions for a long-term peace settlement.
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But Ukraine said the meeting would not yield results unless it saw a copy of the memorandum in advance, a proposal that the Kremlin dismissed.
“As far as I know, no response has been received yet... we need to wait for a response from the Ukrainian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He called Ukraine’s demand for Russia to present peace conditions ahead of the talks “non-constructive.”
Ukraine said it had already submitted its peace terms to Russia and hinted that Moscow should do the same before Kyiv agrees to the second round of talks.
“We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their memorandum,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation during the recent Istanbul 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.”
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that a second round of negotiations is scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul and will be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who is expected to present a memorandum outlining a future peace treaty.
Following this announcement, Kyiv Post contacted Ukraine’s Presidential Office to get a confirmation from the Ukrainian side – but the response had not been addressed by the time of publication.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey on May 16, which resulted in a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap but failed to produce a ceasefire.
Lavrov’s proposal came after Moscow had rejected the Vatican and Geneva as possible venues for renewed talks between the two countries.
If confirmed, this would be the third round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul, the first being in April 2022, which produced the Istanbul Communiqué.
US President Donald Trump has signalled increasing impatience with Moscow over escalating attacks on Ukrainian cities, though he said on Wednesday that he would give Moscow another two weeks before deciding on further moves.
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