Russia and Ukraine start first peace talks in seven weeks as clock ticks on Trump ultimatum
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Russia and Ukraine start first peace talks in seven weeks as clock ticks on Trump ultimatum
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Wednesday for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days. Ukraine wants the meeting to lay the ground for a summit between presidents Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin that it sees as the key to any potential breakthrough. But the Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough in Istanbul and said it was unrealistic to expect “miracles” from the talks. The talks are the first to take place since May 16 and June 2, but made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The meeting is expected to last up to three hours. The last meeting was held on May 16, and led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. It is the first time the two sides have met since the end of the last round of talks in June.
Item 1 of 2 Chief of the Turkish General Staff, Metin Gurak, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, attend a meeting at Ciragan Palace on the day of the third round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Summary Istanbul talks under way, first since June 2
Kremlin damps down expectations
Zelenskiy wants more prisoner releases and a meeting with Putin
ISTANBUL, July 23 (Reuters) – Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Wednesday for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks, with Moscow under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a deal or face tough new sanctions
Opening the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he hoped the parties would make progress based on documents they exchanged at their last encounter in June in order to “end this bloody war as soon as possible”.
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“The ultimate goal here is, of course, a ceasefire that will pave the way for peace,” Fidan said.
Ukraine wants the meeting to lay the ground for a summit between presidents Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin that it sees as the key to any potential breakthrough.
“Ukraine has consistently advocated for a leaders’ meeting. We were ready for it yesterday. We are ready today. And we will be ready tomorrow,” Ukrainian delegation chief Rustem Umerov wrote on Telegram.
“Such a meeting could unlock real political progress. Russia must demonstrate its readiness.”
But the Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough in Istanbul.
“Naturally, no one expects an easy road. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Previous talks on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump has patched up relations with Zelenskiy after a public row with him at the White House in February, and has lately expressed growing frustration with Putin.
Last week he threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days, though reaction on financial markets suggested investors were sceptical that he would follow through.
Three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters last week that Putin, unfazed by Trump’s ultimatum, would keep on fighting in Ukraine until the West engaged on his terms for peace, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.
On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine’s Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country.
CONFLICTING DEMANDS
Zelenskiy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russia, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin.
Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy’s five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children.
The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect “miracles” from the talks.
At the last meeting, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine’s military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Kyiv of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance.
Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskiy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum.
Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength.
Additional reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever, Dmitry Antonov, Filipp Lebedev, Tom Balmforth, Tuvan Gumrukcu, Yuliia Dysa and Olena Harmash; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Daniel Wallis
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Third round of peace talks in Istanbul ‘end after less than an hour’
Talks between Russia and Ukraine end after just over an hour. New law will roll back the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Move is seen as a blow to the Kremlin’s attempts to exert influence in Ukraine. The new law is expected to come into force in the next few weeks.
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Russia and Ukraine have ended a third round of peace talks in Istanbul after well under an hour, according to reports.
Russian state news agency Tass and Ukraine’s Suspilne broadcaster both reported the news on Wednesday, after previous summits failed to yield results, except on swapping prisoners of war.
Tass also reported that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to exchange more prisoners, including military and civilian.
Meanwhile Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky promised to submit revised legislation to parliament in response to angry protests against restrictions on the authority of anti-corruption agencies.
Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Kyiv, opposing the new law, which rolls back the autonomy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr Zelensky says the move will rid the organisations of “Russian influence”.
Marta Kos, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, said the law was a serious step back for Kyiv’s membership hopes.
Rwandan rebels’ fate clouds Trump’s vision for mineral-rich Congo
U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s plans for a mining bonanza in the region are meant to get underway by Sunday. But the future of a small rebel group has emerged as one of the major obstacles. Rwanda says its troops are there to tackle what it describes as an existential threat from thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) Security experts and diplomats say the FDLR, which includes remnants of Rwanda’s former army and militias that carried out the 1994 Rwandan genocide, boasts only a few hundred combatants and is not a significant battlefield force. A U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed last month by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers was designed to halt violence that escalated this year with a lightning advance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The peace agreement explicitly requires Congo to “neutralise” the F DLR as Rwanda withdraws fromCongolese territory, underscoring the group’s importance to the fate of Trump’s diplomacy.
Item 1 of 2 Miners work at the entrance of a shaft at Rubaya coltan mine, near the town of Rubaya, which is controlled by M23 rebels, in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo March 24, 2025. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
Summary Hutu rebels’ future complicates US-brokered peace in Congo
Rwanda cites group as major threat, analysts downplay risk
Rebel leader appeals to Trump to avoid offensive
Trump eyes major minerals investments in war-hit region
July 23 (Reuters) – Moves to end fighting in eastern Congo that are essential to U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s plans for a mining bonanza in the region are meant to get underway by Sunday, but the future of a small rebel group has emerged as one of the major obstacles.
A U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed last month by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers was designed to halt violence that escalated this year with a lightning advance in the Democratic Republic of Congo by M23 rebels.
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Rwanda denies allegations from the U.N. and Western governments that it is fighting alongside the M23 rebels to gain access to Congo’s minerals. Rwanda says its troops are there to tackle what it describes as an existential threat from thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Security experts and diplomats say the FDLR, which includes remnants of Rwanda’s former army and militias that carried out the 1994 Rwandan genocide, boasts only a few hundred combatants and is not a significant battlefield force.
But the peace agreement explicitly requires Congo to “neutralise” the FDLR as Rwanda withdraws from Congolese territory, underscoring the group’s importance to the fate of Trump’s diplomacy.
Both the Congolese operations against the FDLR and the Rwandan withdrawal are supposed to start by Sunday and conclude by the end of September.
U.N. experts said in a report this month that Rwanda, along with M23, is trying to seize control of mineral-rich territory. Kigali responded that the presence of the “genocidal” FDLR “necessitates the defence posture in our border areas”.
The U.N. experts also accused the Congolese military of relying on the FDLR in its fight against M23. A spokesperson for Congo’s government did not respond to a request for comment on that question, but Kinshasa has said it is on board with ensuring any threat posed by the FDLR is “definitively eradicated”, including by voluntary disarmament. It has also accused Rwanda of using the FDLR as a pretext for deploying on Congolese territory.
Congolese researcher Josaphat Musamba said it was not possible for Congo to rid the region of FDLR fighters given that M23 holds much of the territory where the FDLR now operates.
“It would be feasible if the Rwandan-backed rebellion were not active and threatening to conquer other territories,” said Musamba, a Ph.D. candidate at Ghent University who is from eastern Congo and studies the conflict there.
Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who specialises in Africa’s Great Lakes region, said lack of progress against the FDLR could be cited by Rwanda as a reason to keep its troops deployed in eastern Congo past September, throwing off Washington’s timeline.
“It would be fairly easy for Rwanda to claim that Congo is not abiding by its side of the deal – that its operations against the FDLR are not serious enough, have not been successful enough – and therefore to drag its feet,” Stearns said.
A spokesperson for Rwanda’s government did not respond to a request for comment on its approach to the FDLR. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on July 4 that Rwanda was committed to implementing the deal, but that it could fail if Congo did not live up to its promises to neutralise the FDLR.
APPEAL TO TRUMP
Trump said on July 9 the Congolese and Rwandan presidents would travel to the United States in the “next couple of weeks” to sign the peace agreement. They are also expected to sign bilateral economic packages that would bring billions of dollars of investment into countries rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. There has been no further word on a date.
While Washington has hosted negotiations between Congo and Rwanda, Qatar has hosted separate direct talks between Congo and M23. On Saturday the two sides agreed to sign a separate peace deal by August 18. M23 currently has no concrete plans to withdraw from the territory it controls.
The FDLR has urged Trump not to green-light a Congolese offensive against it.
A July 2 letter to Trump from Victor Byiringiro, the FDLR’s acting president, said attacking the FDLR would jeopardise the safety of Congolese civilians as well as more than 200,000 Rwandan refugees.
In written responses to questions from Reuters, FDLR spokesperson Cure Ngoma said only “a frank, sincere, and inclusive dialogue among Rwandans” could bring peace, though Rwanda has repeatedly ruled out such talks with the group.
Trump expects Congo and Rwanda to abide by the peace deal “which will foster lasting stability and prosperity in the region,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in response to Reuters questions about the FDLR’s future.
“All armed groups must lay down their arms and work within the framework of the peace process.”
The fighting has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year, while escalating the risk of a return to the kind of full-scale regional war which led to the deaths of millions of Congolese in 1998-2003.
Reporting by Sonia Rolley Additional reporting and writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet Editing by Philippa Fletcher
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Russia and Ukraine to hold first peace talks in seven weeks as clock ticks on Trump ultimatum
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will meet in Istanbul on Wednesday evening for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks. Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough at the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough at the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Naturally no one expects an easy road. Naturally this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects [of the two sides] are diametrically opposed,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
A Ukrainian diplomatic source said Kyiv saw a Putin-Zelensky meeting as the key requirement for a breakthrough.
“The Ukrainian delegation has come to Turkey prepared to take significant steps towards peace and a full ceasefire, but everything will depend on whether the Russian side is willing to take a constructive approach,” the source said.
A Turkish foreign ministry source said the meeting at the Ciragan Palace was expected to start at 4pm GMT with opening remarks to the two delegations by Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan.
Russia and Ukraine start first peace talks in seven weeks as clock ticks on Trump ultimatum
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Wednesday for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days. Ukraine wants the meeting to lay the ground for a summit between presidents Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin that it sees as the key to any potential breakthrough. But the Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough in Istanbul and said it was unrealistic to expect “miracles” from the talks. The talks are the first to take place since May 16 and June 2, but made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The meeting is expected to last up to three hours. The last meeting was held on May 16, and led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. It is the first time the two sides have met since the end of the last round of talks in June.
Item 1 of 2 Chief of the Turkish General Staff, Metin Gurak, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, attend a meeting at Ciragan Palace on the day of the third round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Summary Istanbul talks under way, first since June 2
Kremlin damps down expectations
Zelenskiy wants more prisoner releases and a meeting with Putin
ISTANBUL, July 23 (Reuters) – Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Wednesday for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks, with Moscow under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a deal or face tough new sanctions
Opening the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he hoped the parties would make progress based on documents they exchanged at their last encounter in June in order to “end this bloody war as soon as possible”.
Sign up here.
“The ultimate goal here is, of course, a ceasefire that will pave the way for peace,” Fidan said.
Ukraine wants the meeting to lay the ground for a summit between presidents Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin that it sees as the key to any potential breakthrough.
“Ukraine has consistently advocated for a leaders’ meeting. We were ready for it yesterday. We are ready today. And we will be ready tomorrow,” Ukrainian delegation chief Rustem Umerov wrote on Telegram.
“Such a meeting could unlock real political progress. Russia must demonstrate its readiness.”
But the Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough in Istanbul.
“Naturally, no one expects an easy road. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Previous talks on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump has patched up relations with Zelenskiy after a public row with him at the White House in February, and has lately expressed growing frustration with Putin.
Last week he threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days, though reaction on financial markets suggested investors were sceptical that he would follow through.
Three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters last week that Putin, unfazed by Trump’s ultimatum, would keep on fighting in Ukraine until the West engaged on his terms for peace, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.
On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine’s Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country.
CONFLICTING DEMANDS
Zelenskiy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russia, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin.
Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy’s five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children.
The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect “miracles” from the talks.
At the last meeting, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine’s military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Kyiv of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance.
Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskiy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum.
Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength.
Additional reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever, Dmitry Antonov, Filipp Lebedev, Tom Balmforth, Tuvan Gumrukcu, Yuliia Dysa and Olena Harmash; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab