Istanbul talks won’t bring peace without Zelenskyy-Putin meeting — Ukraine's MFA

He said this in an interview with Suspilne.

The diplomat emphasized that the Istanbul format alone cannot significantly change the situation at the front or in the negotiation process, as the only thing it can provide is an agreement on the exchange of prisoners.

Kyslytsia explained this by the peculiarities of the political system of the Russian Federation: “the dictatorial nature of the regime in Russia,” he said, means that “only one person has authorized himself to make the decisions that can end the war or establish a sustainable ceasefire.”

In view of this, during the talks in Istanbul in May and June, the Ukrainian side repeatedly raised the issue of the need to organize a direct meeting between the leaders of both states, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We talked about this in May and June,” the First Deputy Foreign Minister said.

However, according to Kyslytsia, Russia is demonstrating a completely different approach: “The Russians have a completely different logic - that we must first fulfill their demands, and then the leaders will meet.”

According to Kyslytsia, it is unlikely that any breakthrough results will be achieved without a meeting of the heads of state, either in the format of a bilateral conversation or trilateral talks with the participation of U.S. President Donald Trump: "It is unlikely that any breakthrough results will be achieved: “it is unlikely to achieve any groundbreaking decisions.”

• On May 16, a trilateral meeting was held in Istanbul between the delegations of Ukraine, the U.S., and Turkey. After that, talks took place between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. According to Ukraine’s Defense Minister, they discussed the idea of a 1,000-for-1,000 POW exchange.
• On Monday, June 2, the second round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul, Turkey.
• On Thursday, June 19, Russian dictator Dmitry Peskov's spokesman said that the date of the next round of talks with Ukraine will be agreed next week.