Russia has proposed a new round of direct talks with Ukraine in Turkiye’s Istanbul on Monday with the goal of securing a lasting ceasefire, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says after heavy bombardments of its neighbour and aerial exchanges in the past week.
“We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul,” Lavrov said in a statement on Wednesday.
Kyiv responded a short time later, saying it had already submitted its version of the memorandum on peace to the Russian delegation.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov urged Moscow to share its version without delay: “We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their ‘memorandum’, so that the meeting won’t be empty and can truly move us closer to ending the war”, he said.
“The Russian side has at least four more days before their departure to provide us with their document for review,” he added.
The Moscow proposal followed a rare meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul on May 16, the first direct contact in more than three years since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The talks resulted in an exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war each but failed to produce a ceasefire, which remains a key demand of Ukraine and its Western allies. Moscow has insisted that certain conditions must be met before halting military operations.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation, said on Telegram that he had contacted Umerov to suggest a date and venue for the next meeting.
“Let me emphasise: right there, on the spot, we are ready to begin an essential, substantive discussion of each of the points of the package agreement on a possible ceasefire,” Medinsky said, adding that he expected a reply from Ukraine.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari in Moscow said the Russians had been preparing this for the last few days after a meeting with Turkish officials on Tuesday.
At the top of Russia’s agenda is “likely to be a list of demands, about what a possible ceasefire deal would look like. Russia has made it very clear that they are not going to back down by ensuring their security is a top priority,” she said.
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Kyiv, added that from the Ukrainian perspective, Russia are making “maximalist demands” by blocking Ukraine from joining NATO, asking Kyiv to withdraw troops from Russian-occupied areas, and imposing limits on the size of the Ukrainian military – all of which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said is off the table.
War of words
The renewed diplomatic push from Moscow comes after growing pressure from US President Donald Trump. Speaking on Wednesday, he suggested that Russian leader Vladimir Putin might be stalling the peace process.
“We’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not, and if he is, we’ll respond a little differently,” Trump said, likely referring to imposing more sanctions on Moscow as Ukraine’s European allies have done recently.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump appeared “not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation”.
Trump, who has previously expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of sanctions, said he was reluctant to impose new penalties on Moscow, fearing they could derail the fragile ceasefire efforts.
“If I think I’m close to getting a deal, I don’t want to screw it up by doing that,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump warned on Tuesday that Putin was “playing with fire” and suggested “really bad” things would have already happened to Russia were it not for his intervention.
On Monday, Trump lambasted Putin, describing him as “absolutely crazy” after Moscow launched its largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine, killing at least 13 people. It was a rare rebuke of Putin.
In the meantime, Lavrov spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss preparations for a next round of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said Lavrov briefed Rubio on Russia’s efforts to implement agreements reached after a phone call between Putin and Trump on May 19.
Putin previously said Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on drafting a memorandum for a future peace accord, but nevertheless has resisted any move towards an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.
Germany and Ukraine to jointly produce long-range missiles
Meanwhile, Germany and Ukraine announced plans to jointly develop long-range missiles as part of their deepening defence cooperation.
“Our defence ministers will sign a memorandum of understanding today regarding the procurement of Ukrainian-made long-range weapons systems,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during a joint news conference in Berlin with Zelenskyy on Wednesday.
“There will be no range restrictions, allowing Ukraine to fully defend itself, even against military targets outside its own territory,” he added.
Merz had announced two days earlier that Ukraine’s Western allies had lifted range restrictions on the weapons they have been supplying.
The Kremlin has previously warned that any long-range Western-provided weapons, such as Taurus missiles, striking inside the country would be seen as an escalation.