Putin meets Russian officials in Kremlin before start of Istanbul talks+ video
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and reporting from RT, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, convened a meeting with senior Russian officials at the Kremlin on the eve of Moscow-Kyiv negotiations in Istanbul.
The Russian delegation in the Istanbul talks will be led by Vladimir Medinsky,Kremlin advisor. Other members include mikhail Galozin, deputy Foreign Minister; Igor Kastukov, head of the Central Directorate of the General Staff; and Alexander Fomin, Deputy Defense Minister of Russia.
On May 11, Putin proposed to Kyiv officials that they resume “without preconditions” the indirect negotiations abandoned in spring 2022.Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s President, also announced plans for a visit to Turkey. Earlier, former U.S. President Donald Trump had urged Ukraine to immediately accept Putin’s proposal.
A White House official stated on May 13 that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff (Trump’s special envoy for West Asia), and Keith Kellogg (U.S. special Envoy for Ukraine Affairs) would travel to Istanbul.
