The Russian foreign minister has welcomed the “positive role” the US played in getting Kiev to the negotiating table
The top Russian and US diplomats have shared their assessments of the Istanbul talks in a phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio welcomed the negotiations and underscored the readiness of the sides to work together toward peace in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, according to the ministry.
The conversation took place on Saturday at the initiative of the US, according to the statement. Rubio welcomed the prisoner exchange agreed by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations during the talks on Friday and stated that “the United States is committed to achieving a lasting end to the Russia-Ukraine war,” according to the US Department of State.
Lavrov praised the “positive role” America played in bringing Kiev to the negotiating table and agreeing to resume the Istanbul peace process. He also expressed Moscow’s readiness to work with Washington on this.
In addition, Lavrov and Rubio discussed other international and regional issues, as well as Russia-US bilateral contacts, the ministry said, without providing further details.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky initially ruled out any talks with Moscow unless Russia agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. The Kremlin has rejected Kiev’s demands, arguing that Ukraine would use the pause to regroup and rearm its military.
However, Zelensky agreed to talks after US President Donald Trump expressed his support for Putin’s initiative and urged Kiev to agree to it “immediately.”
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday, following President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to resume peace talks without any preconditions.
The peace process between the two nations was disrupted in spring 2022 after several rounds of talks in Belarus and Türkiye, when Kiev unilaterally walked away from the negotiations. David Arakhamia, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the time, later stated that the decision was made after a visit to Kiev by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who he said told the Ukrainian government to not sign anything and “just fight.”
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