Russia and Ukraine to hold first peace talks in seven weeks as clock ticks on Trump ultimatum

Istanbul: Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will meet in Istanbul on Wednesday evening for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks, with Moscow under pressure from US President Donald Trump to strike a deal or face tough new sanctions.

The Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough at the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Naturally, no one expects an easy road. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source said Kyiv saw a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting as the key requirement for a breakthrough.

"The Ukrainian delegation has come to Turkey prepared to take significant steps toward peace and a full ceasefire, but everything will depend on whether the Russian side is willing to take a constructive approach," the source said.

A Turkish foreign ministry source said the meeting at the Ciragan Palace was expected to start at 1600 GMT with opening remarks to the two delegations by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Previous talks on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Trump has patched up relations with Zelenskyy after a public row with him at the White House in February, and has lately expressed growing frustration with Putin.

Last week he threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days, though reaction on financial markets suggested investors were sceptical that he would follow through.

Three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters last week that Putin, unfazed by Trump's ultimatum, would keep on fighting in Ukraine until the West engaged on his terms for peace, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.

On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine's Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.

In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country.

CONFLICTING DEMANDS

Zelenskyy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russia, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin.

Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskyy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy's five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children.

The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect "miracles" from the talks.

At the last meeting on June 2, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine's military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Kyiv of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance.

Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskyy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum.

Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength.