An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin will lead a Russian delegation in talks with Ukrainian officials that will be held in Istanbul on Thursday, the Kremlin announced on Wednesday night.
The aide, Vladimir Medinsky, led the Russian delegation the last time Russia and Ukraine held direct negotiations, in 2022. The US discouraged those negotiations, but now the Trump administration is pushing for direct Russian and Ukrainian engagement.
The Russian announcement came after a few days of uncertainty over who Russia would send to the talks. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky had been demanding that Putin attend himself, and President Trump suggested that he might join in if that were to happen.
It remains unclear who Ukraine will send to the negotiations. “I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take,” Zelensky said before the Kremlin announcement.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, who has been involved in the Russia-Ukraine talks, said that he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be traveling to Istanbul for talks on the Russia-Ukraine war on Friday.
President Trump said on Wednesday that he thought there would be “some pretty good news” related to the Russia-Ukraine talks in the coming days, but said he was considering imposing “secondary sanctions” on Russia if progress isn’t made.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-backs-17th-round-of-russia-sanctions/
Europe is irrelevant, they're welcome to throw fits and cut off their own energy supply all they want. When it comes to forcing others such as China to be as belicose toward Russia as the EU, good luck with that.
'but European diplomats believe the reality is that it is only Graham’s sanctions package that might weaken the Russian economy enough to affect the state of the conflict. '
(500% tariffs on China, which won't happen.)
"Europe is irrelevant, they're welcome to throw fits and cut off their own energy supply all they want. "
Do they even realize how self-destructive or stupid they are?
Yermak: A Putin no-show at peace talks should trigger new sanctions. – https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/13/yermak-interview-russia-ukraine-00344369
“If Putin will not come to Turkey, it’s necessary immediately to start real, new packages of the sanctions, new pressure,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in an interview. “Russia understands only the languages of strength, and anybody who thinks that it’s possible to find a compromise, Russia always uses to play games,” he said.
Vladimir Putin snubs peace talks with Ukraine. – https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/vladimir-putin-snubs-peace-talks-with-ukraine/news-story/950994beaa0d269400ad49b1842c9e15
Vladimir Putin has just given the world fresh evidence that he’s not serious about seeking an end to the war in Ukraine.
Trump repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/496d76292196373680d3d0a4db99a9a85cae5d700caead7a9471114578e1e686.jpg
“Mini me”….. ;-}
The Russians understand kabuki theater.
Medinsky is perfect for this mission. He knows everything about Istanbul negotiations. Lavrov and Ushakov are busy with more important things.
'Addressing parliament, Merz warned of “militarily created facts against Ukraine’s will”, telling lawmakers it was “of paramount importance that the political West does not allow itself to be divided”.'
That's so true. The warmongers like merz should be quiet or resign for the sake of European unity and to avoid following Ukraine off an economic and political cliff.
good
Russia better do exactly as Trump orders or the US will borrow more money from where ever it can to support more war,
For successful negotiations it has always been a good practice that the leaders of each side leave the first phase to a group of expert aides who often know more about the issues than the leaders themselves. Having the leaders in early can easily lead to nasty shouting matches between them.
In this instance, Putin appears to be the wiser of the two.
When let a clown enter the palace he does not become a king, the palace becomes a circus.
In my opinion Brian Berletic has the best analysis on this theater. He backs up everything from documents and notes them in actions:
US Ditching Ukraine “Peace Talks,” Predictable Continuity of Agenda Follows
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5B1o7E5A5o