By Yurii Kovalenko and Christian Lowe
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine wants to see a document setting out Russia’s proposals for a peace deal before it sends a delegation to Istanbul for bilateral talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday.
Russia has proposed that negotiators from the two sides meet in Istanbul on June 2, but Kyiv has said it needs reassurances that Moscow is sincere about wanting to end the war.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, made the proposal after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a peace deal.
Expectations for the talks are modest because the positions staked out so far by the two sides are far apart and work between them has yet to begin in earnest on narrowing the gap.
At a joint news conference in Kyiv on Friday with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Sybiha stopped short of confirming that Ukraine would take part in the Istanbul talks.
“In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions,” Sybiha said.
He said that, to date, Ukraine had not received the memorandum it was expecting from Russian negotiators containing their proposals for discussion in Istanbul.
Sybiha did not spell out what Kyiv would do if it did not receive the Russian document, or set out a deadline for receiving it.
“We want to end this war this year, and we are interested in establishing a truce, whether it is for 30 days, or for 50 days, or for 100 days,” Sybiha said.
“Ukraine is open to discussing this directly with Russia. We confirmed this during the last meeting of our delegations with the Russian side.”
U.S. PRESSURE
Speaking to U.S. network ABC, Trump envoy Keith Kellogg indicated he was expecting that the June 2 bilateral talks in Istanbul would go ahead.
Both Kyiv and Moscow are keen to demonstrate to Trump that they are on board with his efforts to end the conflict. Kyiv is seeking more U.S. military aid, while Moscow hopes he will ease economic sanctions on Russia.
Russia has said its delegation at the Istanbul talks will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Kremlin aide who led the Russian team for a previous round of talks in the Turkish city on May 16. Those talks produced no breakthrough.
Turkey’s Fidan, who earlier this week visited Moscow, said on Friday his country stood ready to host another round of talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“This is our view: as long as (the sides) remain at the negotiating table, progress can surely be seen,” he told the news conference.
If the talks go ahead in Istanbul, the next step would be to try to host a meeting between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he added.
(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Anna Pruchnicka and Christian LoweEditing by Tom Balmforth and Gareth Jones)
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