Arya News - Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Friday, securing agreement on a large-scale prisoner exchange. The Russian side expressed readiness to continue talks. President Trump promised to call Putin and Zelensky to discuss potential next steps on Monday.
“Every time Kiev turns away from Russia’s peace proposals, Ukraine becomes smaller and smaller,” Lamesa stressed, recalling the 2022 draft deal nearly reached before being sabotaged by then-UK PM Johnson, and pointing out that the terms of that agreement were “extremely favorable for Ukraine compared to the current situation.”Roadmap to Peace?If nothing else, Friday’s talks constituted the creation of a “foundation of the negotiation processes” out of which a future agreement could flower, says Turkish international affairs expert Bilal Sambur.This contrasts sharply with the slapdash “quick agreement” sought by Ukraine and the US, the observer said.Addressing Root CausesRussia’s intention is to get to the root causes of the conflict, “to resolve the root of the Ukrainian conflict to achieve peace, but Ukraine has focused on secondary issues,” says Argentinian observer Tadeo Casteglione.The renewed talks “got off on the wrong foot” thanks to Ukraine’s 24-hour delay, and its failure to convene a negotiating working group until the last moment, the observer noted, highlighting Zelensky’s “improvisation" and apparent "lack of real will to negotiate.”