Ukraine and Russia to hold peace talks on Wednesday

Ukrainian President Folodimir Zelinski said Russia and Ukraine will hold a new round of peace talks in Istanbul on Wednesday.

“Today, I (Ukrainian Security Council President) discussed Rostam Omrov preparations for the exchange of prisoners and held another meeting in Türkiye with the Russian side,” Zelinski said in his daily speech on Monday. “Umerov stated that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.”

Zelinski suggested new weekend talks, days after US President Donald Trump threatened Russia with “severe” sanctions if there was no ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev within 50 days.

Washington also pledged new weapons of the Ukrainian army, after Russia has intensified attacks.

Moscow has not commented on peace talks yet. The Raya Agency in Russia, quoted a source, said that the talks will take place over two days, Thursday and Friday.

A Turkish government spokesman said on Wednesday’s talks will take place in Istanbul, the same place where previous negotiations in May and June failed to work to stop the shooting.

This week’s talks will be another attempt to end the war, which has been going on for more than three years, and will come after Trump expressed his frustration with Vladimir Putin. US President BBC told that he was “disappointed” but “he was not done” with the Russian leader.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the Istanbul talks could focus on more prisoners and a possible meeting between Zelinski and Putin.

However, Moscow has reduced the possibility of any concrete result any time soon.

Commenting on the possibility of a breakthrough, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that the two sides are “fully opposed” and “a lot of diplomatic work in front of us.”

Russia has intensified its drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, causing civil records. She launched a large -scale invasion of her neighbor in 2022.