Zelenskyy: There is no information on what Russia is going to Istanbul with, it looks frivolous
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- Yuliia Boichenko
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23:19, 31 May, 2025
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that as of the evening of 31 May, neither Ukraine nor its partners had any information about what the Russians wanted to discuss at the talks in Istanbul on 2 June.
He said this in his address.
«As of now, there is no clear information on what the Russians are going to discuss in Istanbul. We don't have it, Turkey doesn't have it, the US doesn't have it, and neither do our other partners. And so far, it does not look very serious», Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The President noted that Ukraine was preparing for new diplomatic steps together with partners in Europe and the United States and was in daily contact with its allies.
He noted that «everyone in the world wants diplomacy to work and a real ceasefire».
«Everyone wants a serious peace, and Russia should go for it. This is what the agenda of the meetings should be. We have given our agenda. We hope that the US side will be decisive on the issue of sanctions to help peace», he added.
Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey
On 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his desire to resume direct talks with Ukraine, which were suspended at the end of 2022. He also said that he planned to address Turkish President Recep Erdogan with a proposal to organise the talks.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for direct talks, calling it a «good sign». However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that a ceasefire was needed first to really start a dialogue with Russia. He later stressed that he was looking forward to direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey.
In addition, Turkish President Recep Erdogan accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to hold talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on 15 May.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that he had no information on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the talks. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of his own participation in the event.
Late in the evening of 14 May, the Kremlin approved the official list of Russian representatives to participate in peace talks with Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is not among the delegates.
On the day of the talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian delegation had arrived in Ankara in full force and was ready for real solutions to achieve a just peace. The composition of the Russian delegation is still unknown and, according to the head of state, resembles «a prop level».
After the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the negotiation process with Russia, saying that Ukraine was ready to take all steps to end the war and urged Vladimir Putin to give the Russian delegation decision-making powers.
Later, it became known that Ukraine and Russia discussed a ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners of war in the format of «thousand for thousand» during the talks in Istanbul.