During the talks in Istanbul, the Russian delegation resorted to threats, cynicism, and "immorality". In particular, it said that the war in Ukraine "hurts them because Russians are killing Russians".
This was stated by Serhii Kyslytsia, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations in Istanbul, in an interview with the TV channel "We are Ukraine".
According to Kyslytsia, during the negotiations in Turkey, the Russians demanded to give them four Ukrainian regions and promised to “demand six or eight tomorrow”. He also confirmed that the Russians said that members of the Ukrainian delegation could lose “even more relatives” in the war. In addition, the negotiations were accompanied by “lengthy pseudo-historical digressions” on the part of the Russians.
"At some point, the head of the Russian delegation tells the Ukrainian plenipotentiary delegation, which consists of high-ranking department heads and military personnel at the front. And the head of the Russian delegation says: ʼWell, you know, in essence, this war is when Russians kill Russians with certain nuances.ʼ That is, you understand, that side denies your existence as a nation. They tell you to your face — you are not Ukrainian, you are Russian," Kyslytsia said.
Kyslytsia was satisfied with the Ukrainian side and the way they conducted the negotiations and stood by their position. He emphasized that Turkey organized the negotiations well — in particular, translators from Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, and English were present. Ukraine used Ukrainian and English, and the Russians used Russian.
However, according to Kyslytsia, the Russian delegation did not have a mandate to conduct negotiations if Americans were present. This is the reason why there were no US representatives at the Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul.
However, he cannot be satisfied with the outcome of these negotiations, because during them "the main result was not achieved".
"But letʼs see what the alternative could be. The alternative could be that we succumbed to provocations, we carried out a demarche, we resorted to some emotional hype actions, walked away from the negotiations. And then it would boomerang against us," Kyslytsia 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. The Economist’s Oliver Carroll wrote that Russia demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from a number of territories to ensure a ceasefire and threatened to occupy the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Carroll claims that the head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky said that “Russia is ready to fight forever” and that “some of those present at the negotiating table” would lose more of their beloved.
- Serhii Kyslytsia responded to the Russian delegateʼs words about "losing loved ones" at the talks in Istanbul and showed a photo of his 23-year-old nephew Maksym, who died at the front in 2022. According to Kyslytsia, this "intimidation tactic" did not work.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.