The Presidents of Ukraine and France, Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and Poland, Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk, had a telephone conversation with the US President Donald Trump.
Zelensky reported this.
The leaders discussed the meeting in Istanbul — where the Ukrainian delegation held talks with the Russians today, and also met with representatives of Turkey and the United States.
"Ukraine is ready to take the fastest possible steps for the sake of real peace, and it is important that the world holds strong positions. Our position: if the Russians refuse a complete and unconditional ceasefire and killings, there must be strong sanctions. Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war. Thank you to everyone in the world who is helping," Zelensky emphasized.
- On May 16, the first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia since 2022 were held in Istanbul. The meeting lasted a little over an hour and, according to media reports, did not produce any significant results. According to journalists, Russia demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from a number of territories to ensure a ceasefire. At the meeting, the parties also discussed a prisoner exchange in the format of "1 000 for 1 000".
- At the beginning of the war, delegations of Ukraine and Russia had already met in Istanbul, but in the spring of 2022, the meetings stopped. Based on the “Istanbul Communiqué”, the parties concluded a major agreement. One of its drafts, dated April 15, is publicly available — it was published by the American newspaper The New York Times. From this draft, it is clear that Russia offered Ukraine to agree to worthless, meaningless guarantees. The Russian side reserved the right to block any military assistance and at the same time demanded that Ukraine limit the size of the Defense Forces. In essence, Putin offered Zelensky to surrender — just in a more veiled form.
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