IRIA News

6 minute read

High-level officials from Ukraine and Russia met in Istanbul on May 16, 2025, in the first direct peace negotiations since 2022. However, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s repeated request to engage directly with Russian leadership, President Vladimir Putin did not travel to Turkey for a meeting with the Ukrainian leader.

The high-stakes talks, mediated by Turkey and attended by U.S. and European representatives, were aimed at securing a 30-day ceasefire and setting the stage for broader peace efforts. Despite symbolic gestures and a major prisoner exchange agreement, substantive progress remained elusive as Moscow clung to its maximalist demands.

“Ukraine is ready to take all realistic steps to end this war,” Zelenskyy declared, reaffirming Kyiv’s push for a full and unconditional ceasefire. Yet, he expressed frustration with Putin’s absence from the negotiations. “This week we had a real chance to take important steps to end this war, if only (Russian President Vladimir) Putin had not been afraid to come to Turkey,” he said.

Zelenskyy had travelled to Ankara a day before the summit and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, thanking him for his role in organizing the dialogue. The Ukrainian president reiterated his willingness to meet Putin directly, “And not just to meet, but to resolve all the important issues, in my opinion.” But he added pointedly, “He did not agree to anything. I urge Putin to give his delegation real powers.”

Trilateral summit

The summit between the officials was held at Istanbul’s historic Dolmabahce Palace, bringing together delegations led by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The trilateral meeting format also included indirect involvement from U.S., UK, French, and German advisers, underscoring the international weight behind the talks.

The Ukrainian delegation, accompanied by top officials including Andriy Yermak and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, had earlier met with U.S. Special Representative Keith Kellogg, British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s advisor Gunter Sautter, and French President Macron’s diplomatic chief Emmanuel Bonne.

Umerov emphasized Kyiv’s readiness to cooperate, “We have come to Istanbul to find real ways to a sustainable and just peace.” He insisted that peace must begin with a firm 30-day ceasefire, humanitarian commitments such as the return of deported Ukrainian children, and prisoner exchanges under the “all for all” model.

Prisoner swap but no hope for peace

Despite high-level engagement and a growing sense of urgency, the negotiations delivered only one concrete outcome, a mutual agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each. While a significant gesture, it fell short of the breakthrough many had hoped for.

“Peace is only possible if Russia is willing to take concrete actions, including a full ceasefire,” said Umerov.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Antalya, struck a skeptical tone. “Frankly, at this point, I think it’s abundantly clear that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President (Donald) Trump and President (Vladimir) Putin,” he said.

Indeed, the notion of a future Trump-Putin summit loomed large over the proceedings. Trump, reportedly frustrated with the stalled negotiations, has signaled a willingness to bypass Kyiv and engage Putin directly. “Nothing is going to happen until he meets Putin personally,” a senior U.S. official told reporters.

This sidelining has sparked anxiety in Kyiv. “If the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, calling for continued international pressure.

Sources close to the Ukrainian team reported that Moscow’s negotiating stance remained inflexible, with demands that included the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from territories not even under Russian control.

I addressed the European Political Community Summit. This week, we had a real chance to move toward ending the war — if only Putin hadn’t been afraid to come to Türkiye. I was there ready for a direct meeting with him to resolve all key issues. He didn’t agree to anything. pic.twitter.com/OPiiKzEE1H

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 16, 2025

“The Russian position is unacceptable,” said UK Labor leader Keir Starmer, after a phone call with President Trump alongside Zelenskyy and other European leaders.

Russia’s stance

Adding to Kyiv’s frustrations, Russia’s delegation head and a staunch Kremlin hardliner, Vladimir Medinsky, insisted that his team had full authority. At a press conference before the summit, he declared, “Our team has the power to make decisions.”

Further complicating matters, Medinsky allegedly invoked Russian imperial history during the meeting, referencing Tsar Peter I’s long war with Sweden as a veiled warning to Ukraine. This drew sharp criticism from Kyiv and others who saw it as historical revisionism masquerading as diplomacy.

Still, not all outcomes were dismissed. The United Nations welcomed the talks, with spokesperson Stéphanie Tremblay noting: “We welcome today’s talks, the first such direct negotiations in three years, including discussions on a potential ceasefire and large-scale exchange of prisoners of war.” She praised Turkey’s facilitation and reiterated the UN’s readiness to support “all meaningful efforts” toward peace.

Successful engagement with minimal results

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed that both sides had agreed “in principle” to further negotiations. “We hope this process will lead to a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine,” Fidan said.

Turkey has played a persistent mediating role since the war’s onset in February 2022, hosting earlier peace talks and helping broker the now-defunct Black Sea Grain Deal. Despite setbacks, Ankara remains one of the few actors capable of facilitating dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow.

But for now, the fundamental impasse remains. Kyiv insists that a ceasefire must precede any deeper talks, while Moscow sees such a pause as a tactical advantage for Ukraine to regroup.

Behind the diplomatic posturing lies a brutal and ongoing war with no end in sight. As Zelenskyy summed up during his visit to Ankara: “A full, unconditional and honest ceasefire… must happen immediately to stop the killing and create a solid basis for diplomacy.”

Until that happens, Istanbul’s summit may be remembered not as a breakthrough, but as another missed opportunity marked more by symbolism than substance.