Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials are not opposed to conducting a third round of negotiations with Ukraine, even at the level of leaders. This was announced by the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in an interview with TRT Haber.
According to his words, the closest moment to peace for Russia and Ukraine was the negotiations in Istanbul. Russia is currently ready for the third round of negotiations and is waiting for the response from the other side.
The news related to the leaders' meeting is that, compared to before, everyone, including Mr. Putin, sees no problem in meeting with the current interlocutors. "There is no problem for Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin, and Mr. Zelenskyy to meet under the hosting of our president," said Fidan.
What did Istanbul witness?
On May 16, 2025, the delegations of Russia and Ukraine conducted a meeting in Istanbul with the participation of Turkey. This has been the first direct negotiation between the two countries since 2022. Ahead of this meeting, Putin had proposed to conduct direct negotiations.
In response, Zelenskyy confirmed his readiness to negotiate with Russia and said on May 15 that he would personally welcome Putin in Turkey. The President of Ukraine followed through on his promise and visited Istanbul for the negotiations. However, the Russian President did not go to Turkey for the negotiations.
On May 28, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressed his readiness to meet Putin with the participation of the former US President Donald Trump. However, by July, such a meeting had not yet taken place.
On June 2, the second round of negotiations took place in Istanbul. During the meeting, an agreement was reached on the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of deceased soldiers. The foreign ministers of Turkey and Ukraine stressed the necessity of a meeting at the presidential level.
