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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed that delegations from Turkey, Ukraine and the United States will be present in Istanbul, adding that he hopes to hold a meeting with Russian officials.
" Such a meeting will take place. We will definitely hold a meeting with the Russian side. I hope that this meeting will take place. The agenda is clear, we are ready to meet. We are waiting for relevant signals from the Turkish side, we are waiting for specific details, at what time, today or at what time tomorrow the groups will meet ," Zelensky told reporters in Ankara, adding that he was waiting for the Turks to confirm the time.
Zelensky added that he decided to send a high-level delegation to Istanbul, even though Russia sent a lower-level team there "out of respect" for US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“ Despite the relatively low level of the Russian delegation, out of respect for President Trump, out of respect for the high level of the Turkish delegation and for President Erdogan, we still want to try to take at least the first steps towards a ceasefire, so I have decided to send our delegation to Istanbul now. Not everyone will be there, of course, the head of the Security Service and the Chief of the General Staff will not be there. But the delegation will be led by the Minister of Defense. Despite the fact that his counterpart will not be there ,” Zelensky said.
He further added that Kiev will never recognize the parts of Ukraine that are currently occupied as part of Russia, while confirming that peace talks will continue.
"In all discussions, and I emphasize this, and this is my unwavering position, we do not legally recognize any of our temporarily occupied territories as Russian. This is Ukrainian land ," Zelensky told reporters.
On the other hand, the head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, told Russian state media RIA that Moscow was ready for discussions.
“ We are ready for discussions, for the resumption of the Istanbul negotiations; we are prepared for possible compromises and their discussion ,” Medinsky said, referring to the last known direct talks between Russia and Ukraine that took place in Istanbul in the spring of 2022.
Medinsky said his delegation included "senior representatives from all relevant agencies" - a possible response to criticism from Ukrainian President Zelensky that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to travel to Turkey himself and decided to send a team of technocrats instead of high-level diplomats./ CNN
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