Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected an invitation from his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to participate in high-level bilateral talks in Istanbul. He continues to refuse concessions to end the war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports, News.bg reports.
Despite his refusal to attend in person, Putin sent a Russian delegation to Istanbul, composed almost entirely of participants in the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian talks. The delegation is led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, and includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Kostyukov is the only new member compared to the negotiations three years ago.
Medinsky said the current talks are a "continuation" of the 2022 negotiations, in which Russia presented demands tantamount to Ukraine's complete surrender. According to him, the new negotiations will be based on the draft agreement of April 2022, the provisions of which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future Russian aggression.
Media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported in 2024 that they had several versions of the draft agreement, according to which:
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Ukraine must renounce membership in NATO and any military alliances.
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The country must renounce accepting foreign military personnel.
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Russia, the United States, Great Britain, China, France and Belarus must be security guarantors.
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The Ukrainian army should be limited to 85,000 soldiers, 342 tanks and 519 artillery systems.
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Ukrainian missiles should have a range of up to 40 km - a parameter that would allow Russia to deploy systems close to the Ukrainian border without fear of strikes.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin is preparing the Russian population for a long-term war. According to the Russian opposition publication “Medusa“, instructions from the presidential administration to the media on how to cover the talks in Istanbul were leaked on May 15.
A political strategist working with the Kremlin said that the talks are expected to end in a “deadlock“, which could lead to new Western sanctions. The media is advised to emphasize that the sanctions will not hinder the development of Russia, which “successfully copes with any challenges“.
It is also recommended to emphasize that Ukraine is negotiating under “less favorable conditions“ from three years ago, although this contradicts the realities on the battlefield, where Russia now controls a smaller part of Ukrainian territory.
Moscow's expectations are that Ukraine will reject the Russian conditions, which continue to represent a form of ultimatum - similar to those of 2021, before the war began.