Russia and Ukraine are holding a third round of peace talks today (July 23) in Istanbul, Turkey; previous rounds occurred in May and June.
Expectations are low for a major breakthrough, with both sides signaling cautious outlooks.
President Trump has increased pressure on Russia, warning of new economic sanctions if no peace deal is reached by early September.
Ukraine’s key demands include the return of children taken to Russia and a direct meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
Russia is focused on recovering bodies of Ukrainian soldiers and may pursue prisoner exchanges for political leverage.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister is giving the opening remarks and says:
Our aim is to end this 40 war as soon as possible Our hope is that parties will hold results – oriented talks on memorandum they exchanged
Delegations & Key Participants
Ukraine
Rustem Umerov (Chair): Former Defense Minister and Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security & Defense Council
Accompanied by senior officials from the Foreign Ministry, military intelligence, and the presidential office
Russia
Vladimir Medinsky (Chair): Kremlin aide and former culture minister Delegation includes:
Mikhail Galuzin – Deputy Foreign Minister
Aleksandr Fomin – Deputy Defense Minister
Igor Kostyukov – Head of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU)
Turkey (Host & Mediator)
Hakan Fidan – Turkish Foreign Minister (chairing the meeting)
Ibrahim Kalın – Head of National Intelligence Organization (MIT)
Gen. Metin Gürak – Chief of Turkish General Staff
No Heads of State
Neither President Zelenskyy nor President Putin is attending.
Zelenskyy continues to push for a direct summit with Putin, though the Kremlin says extensive work is still needed before that happens .
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.