16.05.2025 11:23
The world's attention is focused on the peace talks taking place in Istanbul today. While delegations gather at Dolmabahçe for the trilateral summit, the meeting between Turkey, the USA, and Ukraine, chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, has begun. Following this meeting, the Turkey-Russia-Ukraine trilateral meeting will take place at 12:30 PM.
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According to information obtained from sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish, American, and Ukrainian delegations met at the Presidential Dolmabahçe Working Office in Istanbul under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
RUBIO IS PART OF THE US DELEGATION
The US delegation includes the country's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US Ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack, and Keith Kellogg, the Special Representative of the US President Donald Trump for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian delegation includes Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
ZELENSKY SIGNED THE DECREE YESTERDAY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree yesterday regarding the formation of the Ukrainian delegation that will participate in the peace negotiations to be held in Istanbul. The Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting, which will be held at the same location, is planned to start at 12:30.
Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that a series of meetings in different formats will be held in Istanbul, and that trilateral meetings in the form of US-Ukraine-Turkey and Russia-Ukraine-Turkey are on the agenda.
Today, it was reported that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would be in Istanbul with the US delegation led by Rubio, the Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and the Russian delegation led by Vladimir Medinskiy, an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rubio also noted that the US delegation would meet with a high-level delegation from Ukraine and participate in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR AND NEGOTIATIONS
The war, which erupted with Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has largely annexed Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. With the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, Ukraine lost control over approximately one-fifth of its territory.
While the US and European countries provided extensive economic and military aid to Ukraine, they imposed heavy sanctions on Russia, which annexed a large area. After the talks in Belarus, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met on March 10, 2022, at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Turkey also brought the parties together in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. The compromise achieved in the Istanbul negotiations was disrupted by allegations of civilian killings in the city of Bucha, while claims emerged that the UK and the US opposed the agreement.
Despite the intensification of the war, Turkey continued its efforts for peace and, with the support of the United Nations (UN), brought the parties together again that year, facilitating the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative Agreement, which resonated widely around the world. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, one of the rare leaders who can negotiate with both sides, continued to offer hosting and mediation for peace talks, while the election of Donald Trump as President in the US also revitalized diplomacy.
On May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to restart the direct negotiations that were cut off three years ago unconditionally on May 15 in Istanbul, requesting President Erdoğan to host. The Ukrainian administration responded positively to this, and the international community welcomed the agenda of the Istanbul peace talks.
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