The meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul ended today, Reuters reported, citing a representative of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, BTA reported.
The talks lasted about two hours in the presence of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the head of the National Intelligence Service (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin.
A senior representative of the Ukrainian delegation told the Associated Press that the Russian side had made "unacceptable demands" that had not been discussed before. As a precondition for a full ceasefire, he said, for example, Moscow had demanded that the Ukrainian army withdraw from large areas it controlled.
As for the Ukrainian side, he noted that it had confirmed that it remained focused on achieving "real progress" - an immediate ceasefire and substantive negotiations, "as proposed by the American, European partners and other countries".
These were the first direct negotiations between the two sides in the conflict in more than three years. Representatives of Moscow and Kiev last sat at the same table in March 2022 - a month after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Turkish foreign minister opened the talks by emphasizing that it was crucial to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible.
Expectations for the meeting were low, given the level of delegations. Earlier today, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a "huge mistake" by sending lower-level representatives to Istanbul.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, called for a "firm reaction" against Russia if the talks in the Turkish metropolis fail.