Russia proposes new round of Istanbul talks; Ukraine yet to respond

The renewed diplomatic push comes under growing pressure from Trump and heavy bombardments.

Russia has proposed a new round of direct talks with Ukraine in Turkiye’s Istanbul on Monday with the goal of securing a lasting ceasefire, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says after heavy bombardments of its neighbour and aerial exchanges in the past week.

“We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul,”  Lavrov said in a statement on Wednesday.

There has been no immediate response from Kyiv.

The proposal followed a rare meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul on May 16, the first direct contact in more than three years since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The talks resulted in an exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war each but failed to produce a ceasefire, which remains a key demand of Ukraine and its Western allies. Moscow has insisted certain conditions must be met before halting military operations.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation, said on Telegram that he had contacted Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov to suggest a date and venue for the next meeting.

“Let me emphasise: right there, on the spot, we are ready to begin an essential, substantive discussion of each of the points of the package agreement on a possible ceasefire,” Medinsky said, adding that he expected a reply from Ukraine.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said both sides had agreed to prepare their own proposals outlining the “modalities of settlement and ceasefire” before the next round of talks.

War of words

The renewed diplomatic push comes amid growing pressure from United States President Donald Trump. Speaking on Wednesday, he suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be stalling the peace process.

“We’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not, and if he is, we’ll respond a little differently,” Trump said, likely referring to imposing more sanctions on Moscow as Ukraine’s European allies have done recently.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump appeared “not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation”.

Trump, who has previously expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of sanctions, said he was reluctant to impose new penalties on Moscow, fearing they could derail the fragile ceasefire efforts.

“If I think I’m close to getting a deal, I don’t want to screw it up by doing that,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump warned on Tuesday that Putin was “playing with fire” and suggested “really bad” things would have already happened to Russia were it not for Trump’s intervention.

On Monday, Trump lambasted Putin, describing him as “absolutely crazy” after Moscow launched its largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine, killing at least 13 people. It was a a rare rebuke of Putin.

After a phone call with Trump on May 19, Putin said Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on drafting a memorandum for a future peace accord but nevertheless resisted any move towards an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Germany and Ukraine to jointly produce long-range missiles

Meanwhile, Germany and Ukraine announced plans to jointly develop long-range missiles as part of their deepening defence cooperation.

“Our defence ministers will sign a memorandum of understanding today regarding the procurement of Ukrainian-made long-range weapons systems,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during a joint news conference in Berlin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

“There will be no range restrictions, allowing Ukraine to fully defend itself, even against military targets outside its own territory,” he added.

Merz had announced two days earlier that Ukraine’s Western allies had lifted range restrictions on the weapons they have been supplying to Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said the two leaders also agreed to cooperate on the production of drones and other weapons in Ukraine and agreements had been signed for the construction and development of new manufacturing facilities.

“These new projects already exist,” Zelenskyy said. “We just want them to be in the amount that we need.”

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Al Jazeera and news agencies