Ukraine urges new sanctions, says Moscow is undermining peace

He made the statement on his social media account on X.

Sybiha emphasized the stark contrast between Ukraine’s and Russia’s approaches to seeking peace, which became particularly evident after the Istanbul talks.

“The Istanbul meeting highlighted another stark difference between Russia and Ukraine,” he wrote.

According to him, “Ukraine is forward-looking, focused on the full and immediate ceasefire to kickstart the real peace process.”

By contrast, Sybiha said, Russia “Russia is completely focused on the past, rejecting the ceasefire and instead talking constantly about the 2022 Istanbul meetings, attempting to make the same absurd demands as three years ago.”

“This is yet another reason why pressure on Russia must be increased. Moscow must now understand the consequences of impeding the peace process,” he concluded.

Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul

In a nighttime address on May 11, Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed he was ready for direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey next week, but he dismissed the idea of a 30-day truce. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would keep working with both sides and predicted that the coming week would be “great.”

On the evening of May 14, Russia announced the composition of its delegation for talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.

Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later stated that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not be present during the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Turkey on May 15.

On May 16, a trilateral meeting of delegations from Ukraine, the United States, and Turkey took place in Istanbul. Following this, negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine began. The Ukrainian Defense Minister said, “We talked about a 1,000-for-1,000 exchange and are working on other details of the swap.” According to the minister, the parties are also preparing a potential meeting between the countries' leaders.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi later said that during the Istanbul negotiations, the Russian side made demands that Kyiv considers unacceptable.