Ukraine keeps Russia guessing over participation in June 2 peace talks First round in Istanbul on May 16 brought no breakthrough
A resident gestures as he stands near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes in the frontline town of Myrnohrad, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 29 2025.
A resident gestures as he stands near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes in the frontline town of Myrnohrad, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 29 2025.
Ukraine on Friday resisted pressure from Moscow and Washington to commit itself to attending peace talks with Russia on June 2, saying it first needed to see the proposals Russian negotiators plan to bring to the talks.
After US President Donald Trump urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a peace deal to end their three-year-old war, Russia proposed sitting down with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul.
Kyiv responded by saying it was committed in principle to the search for peace, but that it was waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side setting out their proposals, which it had still not received.
We are ready for dialogue, but we demand clarity — clear and, most importantly, balanced proposals,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said in remarks aired on national television.
The war, the biggest on the European continent since World War 2, began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Expectations for the talks are modest because the positions staked out so far by the two sides are far apart and work between them has yet to begin in earnest on narrowing the gap.
Nevertheless, both Kyiv and Moscow are keen to demonstrate to Trump that they are on board with his efforts to end the conflict. Kyiv is seeking more US military aid, while Moscow hopes he will ease economic sanctions on Russia.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Russian delegation would be travelling to Istanbul and would be ready for talks with Ukraine on Monday morning.
At the moment, everyone is focused on the direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations. A list of conditions for a temporary truce is being developed,” Peskov told reporters.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Putin’s conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging Nato eastwards.
Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said earlier on Friday that Russia’s concern over the eastward enlargement of Nato was fair and the US did not want to see Ukraine in the US-led military alliance.
Commenting on Kellogg’s statement, Peskov said: “We are pleased that these explanations by the president are understood, including in Washington.”
Turkey’s government hosted a previous round of Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul on May 16 — which ended with no breakthrough — and has again offered its services as a mediator
