Ukrainian president stresses need for clear agenda for peace talks, highlights Türkiye's role in prisoner exchange
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia is doing everything it can to ensure that the next potential peace talks "bring no results."
Following his meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said they discussed diplomatic efforts, and thanked Türkiye and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for “supporting our efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
“In particular, for their assistance in organizing the meeting that made it possible to secure the release of one thousands of our people from Russian captivity. The return of all Ukrainians held by Russia is one of our top priorities,” he added.
He said Russia continues to ignore calls for a ceasefire and that it has not yet presented a memorandum outlining key principles for a settlement.
“Russia continues to ignore all calls from the world to cease fire and continues its killings,” Zelenskyy said, adding that “Russians have been unable to present the so-called 'memorandum' they had promised to prepare immediately after the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange. Ukraine has received no documents from them — nor has Türkiye.”
The Ukrainian president emphasized that for a meeting, to be meaningful, its agenda must be clear, and the negotiations must be properly prepared.
“We value all our cooperation with Türkiye aimed at making diplomacy effective. We are grateful for Türkiye's clear stance — consistent and full support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
The second round of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine is proposed for June 2 in Istanbul, following the May 16 meeting where both sides agreed on a prisoner exchange and the preparation of draft documents to advance peace efforts.
While Russia insists it will present the draft at the talks, the Ukrainian side has demanded the document be presented immediately.
