Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey begin after Trump's peace estate

Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey begin after Trump's peace estate

Russian and Ukrainian delegates recently have the third round of direct negotiations . These conversations took place just a few days after US President Donald Trump's ultimatum, which gave Moscow a period of 50 days to close peace or to be confronted with "very strict tariffs".

Putin's reaction to Trump's ultimatum

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has not publicly recognized Trump's ultimatum. Meanwhile, Moscow continues his attack on Ukrainian cities with drones and rockets, while the ground troops in the east continue to advance.

results of the previous conversations

In the two previous negotiation rounds in Istanbul, which took place in May and June, thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of fallen soldiers were exchanged, but only limited progress was made towards a possible ceasefire.

expectations of the negotiations

Before the latest round of talks, the spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, tried to dampen expectations. He emphasized that the negotiating positions of both sides were "diametrically" opposed. "Nobody expects a simple way. It will be a very difficult discussion," said Peskov on Wednesday. A day earlier he explained that one should not count on "wonderful breakthroughs".

delegations at a glance

Peskov confirmed that the Russian delegation remains unchanged and is led by Wladimir Medinski, a former Minister of Culture and now high-ranking Putin adjutants. The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Rustem Umerov, the former Defense Minister of Ukraine, who had already managed the previous two rounds.

losses and geopolitical effects

Last month, the Russian losses reached a tragic milestone. The British Ministry of Defense estimated that Putin's war has cost Russia more than 1 million losses since the beginning of the comprehensive invasion in February 2022. This number was underpinned by an estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Think Tank in Washington, DC, which quantified the losses to 950,000 and predicted that "Russia will probably exceed 1 million mark in the summer of 2025".

Trump's new threats and arms deliveries

Despite these losses, the Russian President is not very compromising in his Maximum war goal to smash the sovereignty of Ukraine. In a long essay that was published months before the extensive invasion, Putin incorrectly argued that Russia and Ukraine were a country; His statements suggested that the war were waged to create this reality.

In addition to Trump's new threat of sanctions against Russia and other countries that buy Russian oil, if no peace is reached within 50 days, the US government also secured a deal for the provision of new weapons for Kiev about European allies. These steps are in stark contrast to the previous approaches that the US President had followed in conflict.

improved military support for Ukraine

Trump’s change of course came after the European Union had presented a new sanction package that wanted to reduce the price cover for Russian oil exports and a complete ban on transaction for Russian banks and financial institutions in third countries that help to avoid existing sanctions.

It is unclear whether Trump's recent decisions will affect Moscow's procedure, but his change could give Ukraine urgently needed buoyancy for its military finances and signals its growing frustration with Putin.

demand for direct meetings with Putin

Before the conversations, the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj repeated his call for a direct meeting with Putin and emphasized that only one encounter of the two leaders could end the war.