Russia-Ukraine talks begin in Istanbul after delay – DW – 05/16/2025

Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine have started holding their first direct peace talks in more than three years of war. 

Live Turkish television showed the delegations from the two countries, along with representatives from Turkey, holding discussions at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was seen on TV making a speech at the start of the meeting.

A photograph released by Ukraine’s foreign ministry showed the Russian and Ukrainian delegations sitting opposite each other at a U-shaped table, with Turkish representatives at the head of the table.

The two sides didn’t shake hands upon meeting, the BBC reported citing their camera operator who was in the room. 

Ukraine and Russia last held direct talks, also in Istanbul, in March 2022, in the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which were held just after Ukraine’s forces pushed Russian troops away from Kyiv.

The Kremlin has said that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump was “undoubtedly essential.”

“Contacts between presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, 

But Peskov added that such a meeting required considerable advance preparation and had to yield results.

Peskov was commenting after Trump said he would meet Putin “as soon as we can set it up”.

Delegations from both Russia and Ukraine have arrived at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, the venue in Turkey where talks are being held.

That’s according to Russian new site Izvestia. 

Ukraine’s delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is due to meet with a Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

Ukraine’s delegation earlier held talks with the United States and Turkey.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who flew into Turkey early on Friday, was at the hour-long meeting.

Ukraine’s delegation in Istanbul will make securing a ceasefire a priority in expected talks with the Russian delegation on Friday, a Ukrainian diplomatic source told news agencies AFP and Reuters.

The ceasefire needs to be “real, durable and well-monitored,” the diplomatic source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

Negotiators from Ukraine also plan to discuss the possibility of a face-to-face meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the source said.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin now “has to play ball.”

“All pressure is on him,” Rutte said at a meeting of EU leaders in Albania on Friday. 

He added that Putin had made a mistake by sending what Rutte called a “low-level” delegation to talks with Ukraine in Turkey.

But it was good, Rutte said, that the Ukrainians have come to the table. 

Putin was the one who proposed holding direct talks with Ukraine, however, the Russian president didn’t meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s challenge to meet in person. 

Instead, Putin has sent a team of mid-ranking officials to the Istanbul talks.

Putin hasn’t traveled outside of Russia this year, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

Ukraine lost an F-16 fighter jet early on Friday, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement on the Telegram messenger app. 

The pilot ejected safely, it said, describing his condition as “satisfactory.”

The pilot was engaged in repelling a Russian aerial attack, according to the statement, when “an emergency situation arose on board.”

“The pilot moved the aircraft away from the settlement and successfully ejected,” the air force said.

It didn’t provide details on the plane’s fate or the location of the likely crash site.

The crash is the probably the third involving the American-made F-16 since Ukraine began receiving the fighter jets from US allies in mid-2024. 

Russia said it downed a plane in April 2025. Ukraine didn’t confirm that but said it lost a pilot during a combat mission.

In August 2024, Ukraine said a pilot died while repelling a major Russian air strike. 

Ukraine hasn’t disclosed the number of aircraft it has received from Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. 

In total, NATO members have committed around 65 F-16s since US President Joe Biden authorized European allies in August 2023 to send the fighter jets to Ukraine.

France also sent a batch of French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets in February 2025. 

Did you know there have been at least 8 short-term agreements and ceasefires since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 2022?

But none of them have seen lasting peace.

To help you get a better overview, DW has put together this list of ceasefires breakdowns between Russia and Ukraine since early 2022.

It also explains the pacts between Russia and Ukraine in the lead up to the war. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said only direct talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could bring about a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. 

“Nothing is going to happen until President Trump sits across … from Vladimir Putin and … puts it on the table,” Rubio said on Thursday ahead of planned talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Turkey on Friday. 

“I think that’s the only chance we have at peace at this point given everything we’ve seen over the last few weeks,” Rubio told Fox News, repeating comments he had made earlier in the day.

Trump made similar remarks on Thursday.

“Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together, OK?” Trump told journalists on the final day of his Middle East visit. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the course of the possible peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

“A just peace means respecting the UN Charter, international law, and Ukraine’s territorial integrity. This will not be easy,” Guterres told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

According to the UN chief, the principle of territorial integrity is of the utmost importance. “It is fundamental to peace and security in the world,” Guterres said, adding that if the principle of territorial integrity no longer applied, it would lead to an increase in conflicts.

Nevertheless, he observed the ongoing peace efforts with optimism. Guterres expressed confidence that a ceasefire could be reached without preconditions to create the basis for a just peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Ahead of a European Political Community meeting in Albania, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “must pay the price for avoiding peace.”

“Putin’s tactics to dither and delay, while continuing to kill and cause bloodshed across Ukraine, (are) intolerable,” Starmer said in a statement.

The European Political Community summit is taking place on the same day that talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations are expected to begin in Turkey.

Negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian envoys in Istanbul are expected to begin Friday morning.

Sources from Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told German news agency dpa that the first direct meeting between the two countries in three years is now set to take place with Turkish representatives present.

The ministry sources also said that trilateral talks are planned between the United States, Ukraine and Turkey, as well as between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

The US delegation is led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He told reporters that the United States “doesn’t have high expectations” for the Ukraine talks in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told the Interfax news agency that his delegation expects the Ukrainian side at 10 a.m. (7:00 a.m. UST) and is ready for direct talks without preconditions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not attend the talks in protest of his counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin, refusing to participate.

Zelenskyy said that Putin’s decision to send a “decorative” lineup instead of attending himself showed that the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war.

Russia accused Ukraine of trying “to put on a show” around the talks.

Low-profile talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to begin in Istanbul, Turkey.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed the talks, will not attend.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has already arrived in Turkey and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.

Zelenskyy confirmed that he will not take part in talks with Russian officials. Instead, he is sending a delegation headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

DW will bring you the latest news, analysis and insight from our reporters and correspondents regarding Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Stay tuned for more.