According to the statement, the negotiating group will be headed by presidential advisor Vladimir Medinsky, who will be accompanied by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin and deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin, and the chief of the General Staff of the Army, Igor Kostyukov.

The list of experts for the negotiations includes the first deputy chief for information of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Alexander Zorin; the deputy head of the Presidential Department for State Policy in the Humanitarian Sphere, Elena Podobreyevskaya; the director of the Second Department for the Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States of the Foreign Ministry, Alexei Polishuk; and the deputy head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Viktor Shevtsov.

According to Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, the delegation plans to discuss both technical and political issues in Istanbul. The meeting can be seen as a resumption of the dialogue interrupted in 2022 at Ukraine’s initiative.

On May 11th, Putin proposed that Kyiv authorities resume, without preconditions, the direct talks they suspended in 2022 on May 15th in Istanbul.

In turn, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that Kyiv expects a ceasefire starting on May 12th and is ready to begin talks with Russia in Turkey on May 15th. His statement came after US President Donald Trump urged Ukraine to immediately accept the talks proposed by the Russian president.

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