Russia and Ukraine to renew talks, but peace remains elusive
- The San Juan Daily Star
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
By Anatoly Kurmanaev
Russian and Ukrainian officials are expected to meet in Istanbul today, ostensibly for the latest round of talks aimed at ending their war, according to Turkish and Ukrainian officials.
Both Ukraine and Russia have downplayed expectations for the meeting, which would be the third time their representatives have met since the Trump administration persuaded the warring nations to sit down together in May.
“There is no basis to expect any magical breakthroughs,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday. “This is highly unlikely in the current situation.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Monday that his chief negotiator and head of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, would meet the Russians on Wednesday. The government of Turkey, the host of the talks, confirmed that timing.
Russia has offered fewer details. Peskov said the meeting was expected to take place this week, without disclosing the dates or the names of its representatives.
Russia and Ukraine both have reasons to use the talks to resolve low-level issues like prisoner exchanges that score political points at home without offering significant compromises that could persuade their opponents to lay down arms.
Russia is making moderate gains on the battlefield, giving it an incentive to keep fighting. Ukraine, for its part, may be emboldened by renewed military support from the United States and Europe, which it hopes will allow it to hold off the Russian offensive and get a better deal in the future.
Peskov said Tuesday that the exchanges of prisoners and bodies of dead soldiers that took place after the previous rounds of talks proved that the peace process had already been a success. That implied that President Vladimir Putin of Russia wants to continue discussing limited deals that don’t affect the fighting, in which Russia has the upper hand.
In particular, Russia has been eager to deliver to Kyiv the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers that its forces have collected from the battlefield, because of the exchanges’ potential to undermine Ukraine’s official casualty numbers and strain its finances. Families of soldiers killed in combat are entitled to large compensation in Ukraine, provided the death can be proved.
Russia claims to have delivered more than 7,000 bodies to Ukraine since June, although Ukraine has disputed the number and said that some may not be the remains of its troops.
Peskov said Tuesday that Russia remained committed to achieving the goals that it set at the beginning of the war in 2022. His comment indicates that the Kremlin’s representatives could continue to press its maximalist demands of swallowing a large part of Ukraine’s territory and curtailing its sovereignty.
Kyiv has categorically rejected these conditions, which include a ban on NATO membership and withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the land claimed by Russia, not all of it currently in Russian hands.
The government of Ukraine is likely to be encouraged by promises of renewed military support from the United States. President Donald Trump announced this month that his government would supply billions of dollars worth of additional advanced weapons to Ukraine, a sharp turnaround from his earlier threats to abandon the U.S. ally.
Zelenskyy said Monday that the meeting in Istanbul this week would focus on the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia from the occupied territories, and on arranging a personal meeting between him and Putin. He has said repeatedly that only such a meeting could lead to peace.
Peskov on Tuesday rejected the proposal outright. The Russian government considers Zelenskyy illegitimate and has refused to negotiate directly with him.
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