In his regular press briefing, the spokesman stated, in response to a question about a possible trip by the Russian president to Turkeye, that there are no such plans at the moment.

The Russian delegation, which is already in Istanbul, is headed by presidential advisor Vladimir Medinsky and includes, among others, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, and Chief of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff Igor Kostyukov.

The composition of the Ukrainian team, as well as the exact start time of the negotiations, has not yet been disclosed to the press. However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova indicated that the talks will take place in the “second half of the day.”

Last Sunday, Vladimir Putin proposed that Ukraine resume direct negotiations without preconditions on the 15th in Istanbul. Turkeye confirmed its readiness to host talks leading to a permanent solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

The last round of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv to achieve a cessation of hostilities took place in late March 2022 in Istanbul, and the countries have not resumed them since.

Moscow repeatedly declared its readiness to resume the negotiation process with Kyiv, but conditioned it on the cancellation of the Ukrainian decree that has banned any peace talks since May 2022.

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