US President Donald Trump later claimed that Moscow and Kiev “will immediately start” negotiations
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky ordered the creation of a “permanent expanded national negotiating group” following recent Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Last Friday’s meeting between the representatives of Kiev and Moscow was the two sides’ first direct engagement since 2022. It was preceded by a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume peace talks without any preconditions.
During the two-hour negotiations, Russia and Ukraine agreed to conduct a large-scale prisoner swap, as well as to exchange preliminary terms for a potential ceasefire and discuss a follow-up round of talks.
Zelensky announced the creation of the “permanent expanded national negotiating group” in a post on his Telegram channel on Monday.
“We are also ready for a meeting at the leadership level to resolve key issues. Ukraine is not afraid of direct negotiations with Russia,” Zelensky stated.
The Kremlin has made it clear that it has not ruled out direct talks between Putin and Zelensky, provided that the ongoing peace efforts yield progress and firm agreements.
Later on Monday, US President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, after which he claimed in a post on the Truth Social platform that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”
Putin, in turn, thanked Washington for helping facilitate the resumption of direct dialogue between the two neighboring countries, noting that “both Moscow and Kiev must demonstrate maximum desire for peace and find compromises that will satisfy all parties.”
The Russian president also expressed readiness to “work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a potential future peace agreement… including [the announcement of] a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time.”
Putin emphasized that Russia’s main objective is to “eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”
The first round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks came to an abrupt end in the spring of 2022 after Kiev unilaterally pulled out. David Arakhamia, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the time, later stated that the decision was made after a visit to Kiev by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who he said advised the Ukrainian government not to sign anything and “just fight.” Johnson has denied the allegations.
