02.06.2025 16:31
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced after the Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting, held under the auspices of Turkey for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, that they are preparing for a new prisoner exchange.
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The Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting, aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine War, began in Istanbul, hosted by Turkey. The talks between the delegations of Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine started at 14:45 at the Çırağan Palace.
THE MEETING LASTED 1 HOUR AND 10 MINUTES
The Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting, chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes.
MIT PRESIDENT KALIN ALSO PARTICIPATED IN THE MEETING
National Intelligence Organization (MIT) President İbrahim Kalın and Chief of General Staff General Metin Gürak also attended the Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
FIRST STATEMENT FROM ZELENSKY
After the conclusion of the meeting, the first statement came from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky announced that they were preparing for a new prisoner exchange.
HERE ARE THE NAMES IN THE UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN DELEGATIONS
The Russian delegation participating in the meeting includes Vladimir Medinskiy, advisor to President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, and Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) Igor Kostyukov.
In the Ukrainian delegation, there are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Oleksandr Poklad, and Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Luhovskyi.
While Ukraine delivered a memorandum containing ideas on the principles and procedures for ending the conflicts and the path to peace to the other side, it is expected that Russia will present its own memorandum during the meeting to the Ukrainian side.
MINISTER FIDAN: WE WILL ADDRESS THE LEADERS' MEETING
At the beginning of the meeting, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made statements. Fidan said, "As Turkey, we are ready for any facilitating steps. The essential thing is Russia-Ukraine peace. We will address the leaders' meeting."
UKRAINIAN DELEGATION: WE ARE READY TO TAKE BIG STEPS FOR PEACE
Just minutes before the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks, a peace message came from Ukraine. Ukrainian officials stated, "We are ready to take big steps for peace."
TURKEY MANAGED TO BRING THE PARTIES TO THE SAME TABLE AFTER 3 YEARS
Immediately after the bloody war that began in February 2022, Turkey managed to bring Russia and Ukraine to the same table in both Antalya and Istanbul within the same year. In May 2025, Turkey again succeeded in bringing the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to the same table in Istanbul after 3 years.
Negotiations were held between Russia and Ukraine at the Presidential Dolmabahçe Working Office in Istanbul on May 16. The two sides agreed on a large prisoner exchange of "1000 for 1000," detailed discussions on a possible ceasefire, and the continuation of negotiations. The two countries announced that the prisoner exchange agreed upon in Istanbul was completed on May 25.
TURKEY CONTINUED MEDIATION EFFORTS
While Turkey continued its diplomatic contacts without slowing down to help the parties reach peace, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited both Moscow and Kyiv this week. Fidan, who visited the Russian capital Moscow on May 26-27, was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin and held talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and senior Russian officials.
In his meeting with Lavrov, Fidan stated, "Russia's preference for Istanbul for direct negotiations with Ukraine is a manifestation of our countries' common understanding towards establishing stability." Lavrov also said, "We appreciate Turkey's efforts to provide direct negotiation opportunities with the Ukrainian side."
Minister Fidan indicated that they conveyed to Putin the request for the continuation of the talks to be held in Turkey after the joint press conference with his Russian counterpart.
PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW ROUND TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL
On May 28, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov announced that they proposed to hold a new round of negotiations with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, drawing all eyes back to Turkey. Lavrov, who reported that the delegation headed by Putin's advisor Vladimir Medinskiy was ready to present the "memorandum prepared by Russia for a sustainable solution" to the Ukrainian delegation and to make necessary statements during the second round of negotiations on June 2, expressed gratitude to Turkey.
The Kremlin also announced that the Russian delegation would depart for Istanbul and be ready for the second round of negotiations on Monday morning. Ukraine will be represented in Istanbul by a delegation led by Defense Minister Umerov. After his visit to Russia, Foreign Minister Fidan made a working visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
In Ukraine, Fidan met with high-level officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and reiterated Turkey's call for achieving lasting peace at a press conference with Sybiha. Fidan emphasized that as long as they remain at the negotiation table, progress can definitely be seen, referring to Turkey's good relations with both sides.
The Ukrainian side initially expressed a desire to see the memorandum prepared by Russia before the second round of negotiations. Today, Zelensky announced that he had designated the Ukrainian delegation to participate in the peace talks to be held in Istanbul today. Accordingly, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian delegation.
TRUMP'S "TWO WEEKS TIME" MESSAGE TO PUTIN
U.S. President Donald Trump has been making statements about ending the war both during the election process and after taking office. U.S. officials supporting the negotiation process held high-level phone calls with the Russians after the first round of talks. Trump and Putin also spoke on the phone on May 19, with Trump reporting that it went very well and announcing that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would begin immediately. Trump recently claimed that Russia has been slow to reach a ceasefire with Ukraine, expressing his dissatisfaction with this.
The U.S. leader stated that after Russia's airstrikes on Ukraine, he said Putin had "completely gone crazy" in his statement on May 26. In another statement, Trump mentioned that Putin was "playing with fire" and that if it weren't for him, "very bad" things would have happened to Russia. Trump also warned Putin not to "stall us," stating that they would respond differently even if they were stalled, and that he would say within a few weeks whether they were being stalled or not. Russia, on the other hand, stated that Trump was not informed about Ukraine's attacks on Russian cities; the Russians suggested that Trump and U.S. officials might be "emotionally overloaded" regarding Trump's harsh statements.
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Trump, who also criticized Ukrainian leader Zelensky, claimed that the Ukrainian leader is "not doing his country any good by speaking this way." Meanwhile, a statement from the White House indicated that there is hope for direct talks and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, and it was stated that the meeting is believed to take place. It is still unclear whether the U.S. will send a representative to these talks.
CONFLICT ESCALATED BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS
As the parties prepared to sit down at the table in Istanbul on Monday, reports of violent attacks came in on the night connecting Saturday to Sunday. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Ukraine had attacked military air bases in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions with FPV drones and that some aircraft had caught fire. The attacks reached the interior of the territories in northwestern, southwestern, and eastern Russia.
Ukrainian social media accounts reported that the Ukrainian army had launched a large-scale drone operation against Russia. It was claimed that more than 40 Russian aircraft, including A-50 early warning planes, Tu-95, and Tu-22M3 bombers, were damaged in the attacks, while images from Ukrainian sources showing attacks on some bombers spread rapidly. The attacks were alleged to have been carried out on Russian air bases in the Murmansk, Ryazan, Irkutsk, and Ivanovo regions.
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