[By Guancha Observer Network, Ruan Jiaqi]

Since the draft of the Istanbul Agreement in March 2022 "collapsed," after three years, Russia and Ukraine finally sat down to talk again. On May 16th local time, representatives from both sides returned to Istanbul, Turkey, for direct dialogue aimed at peacefully resolving the Ukrainian crisis.

According to reports by agencies such as TASS and Reuters, this highly anticipated meeting lasted less than two hours, and there were no signs that either side had narrowed their differences on basic issues such as territory, security guarantees, and ceasefire. During the talks, both sides mostly repeated positions already well-known to the outside world: Ukraine demanded an immediate ceasefire and then start negotiations; while Russia insisted that more rounds of negotiations must take place before a ceasefire could be reached.

Despite the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement, both countries agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war. According to Oleksiy Reznikov, head of the Ukrainian delegation and Minister of Defense, this will be the largest prisoner exchange since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Reznikov stated that the specific exchange time has been determined but remains undisclosed.

BBC Sky News analysis indicated that agreeing to swap prisoners was the only substantive outcome of this meeting, as both sides attempted to "build trust" but did not "bridge the gap." The evaluations of the meeting by both sides were completely opposite; Ukraine considered it "fruitless," while Russia expressed "general satisfaction" and stated they were ready for further contact.

After the meeting, Russian delegation leader Mikhail Mezentsev issued a brief statement confirming the prisoner swap agreement. He also revealed that Ukraine proposed direct talks between the leaders of the two countries, and Russia noted this and would carefully consider it.

Oleksiy Reznikov also mentioned this matter at the Ukrainian press conference. He directly stated that the next step would be a "leader-level" meeting between Ukraine and Russia.

After the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister posted on X, calling this day "crucial for world peace." He revealed that Ukraine and Russia agreed to communicate their respective ceasefire conditions in writing and, in principle, agreed to hold another round of talks.

According to Turkish officials, no specific timeline or location for the next round of negotiations has been agreed upon yet; both sides need to report the results of this meeting to their respective leaders first.

Russian delegation leader Mikhail Mezentsev released a statement regarding the negotiation results. TASS

The evaluations of the meeting by both sides were "completely different," described as a "small step forward in a great breakthrough."

As the first meeting between Russia and Ukraine in three years, it was originally expected that the atmosphere might be tense. However, a Turkish official told Reuters that "the atmosphere was very calm."

However, from his description of the scene, one could still feel the "undercurrents": the negotiation teams of both sides sat on either side of a U-shaped table, with Russian members dressed in suits, while half of the Ukrainian representatives wore military uniforms.

A Ukrainian source revealed that although Russian is widely used in Ukraine, Ukrainian representatives still spoke through interpreters using Ukrainian during the talks. Additionally, a European source said that Russia rejected Ukraine's request for the presence of a U.S. representative.

According to Oleksiy Reznikov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, the two sides mainly discussed three things during the negotiations: a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and the possibility of direct talks between the leaders of the two countries.

However, from the subsequent statements made by both sides, it is evident that they still have significant differences on core issues. BBC Sky News described the outcome of the talks as "a small step forward in a great breakthrough."

Ukraine's stance remained focused on criticizing Russia. In response to Reuters, an anonymous source from the Ukrainian delegation criticized that Russia's demands at the talks were "unrealistic" and far beyond the scope of previous discussions. He also claimed that Russia simultaneously proposed "other fundamentally unfeasible and unconstructive conditions."

According to him, Moscow sent an ultimatum to Ukraine as part of the ceasefire conditions, requiring them to withdraw troops from certain territories. Ukrainian newspapers such as "Kyiv Independent" reported that the Russian demands included withdrawing troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

Two sources familiar with the content of the talks also told Reuters that during the meeting, Mezentsev compared Russia's fighting spirit to Tsar Peter the Great's 21-year war against Sweden in the early 18th century, stating that Russia was prepared for long-term combat if necessary.

One of them cited his remarks: "We don't want to fight, but we are ready to do so if you wish, for a year, two years, three years (or longer)."

In the Ukrainian press conference held on the same day, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yehor Mykhailenko also stated that Russia "raised some issues unacceptable to Ukraine."

He then emphasized that the Ukrainian delegation had a "clear agenda," which was to achieve a ceasefire during the talks. He said, "This is logical because if you want serious negotiations, you need to silence the guns first."

After the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba posted on X, stating that he and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell agreed that "greater pressure must be applied to Moscow to achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire."

However, Kuleba admitted in another post on Facebook that even considering the "prisoner swap" alone, this meeting had "positive" significance.

Russia did not make excessive comments or responses about the meeting. Delegation leader Mikhail Mezentsev briefly introduced that both sides agreed to submit ideas for future ceasefire details and continue negotiations afterward. He emphasized that Russia was willing to maintain contact.

According to TASS, Mezentsev later told Russian media that Moscow viewed these contacts with Kyiv as a continuation of the "Istanbul Agreement process" in 2022. He pointed out that Kyiv "ripped up" those agreements, so it was necessary to remind Ukraine of the "importance" of these agreements during new negotiations.

Mezentsev added that it was equally important to remind people of how things would end if Ukraine agreed to peace.

On the same day, Ukrainian Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak posted on social media, stating that Russia was attempting to link the ongoing negotiations with those of 2022, but the two negotiations only shared the same location, Istanbul, as a common point.

A familiar scene played out again in Europe: shortly after the Istanbul talks concluded, the leaders of Ukraine, Britain, France, Germany, and Poland gathered around a phone to call U.S. President Donald Trump.

European leaders called Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron's X

According to CNN, six days ago, on May 10th, these five European leaders also took a similar photo together, during which they were in Kyiv, sitting around a phone to call U.S. President Joe Biden, pressuring Russia to immediately implement an unconditional one-month ceasefire.

On May 10th, leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Poland met with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv to call Biden.

According to Reuters, after the meeting, Zelenskyy urged allies to take stronger actions during the call unless Moscow accepted Biden's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Zelenskyy said that if Russia refused the ceasefire, stricter sanctions should be imposed on it.

European leaders continued to express support for Ukraine: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that reaching the "prisoner swap" agreement was indeed "good news," but Russia's position was "obviously unacceptable"; European leaders, Ukraine, and the U.S. were "closely coordinating" their response; French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Russia's refusal to cease fire and engage in dialogue with Ukraine, accusing Russia of "delaying time"; newly appointed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while expressing continued support for Ukraine, also called the Russia-Ukraine talks a "small but positive" signal, urging greater diplomatic efforts; EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU was formulating a new round of sanctions against Moscow.

Compared to the anxiety in Europe, Trump appeared "relaxed."

Earlier, he mentioned that he might visit Turkey after concluding his Middle Eastern trip. However, according to reports by Bild in Germany and The Daily Beast in the U.S., after completing his Middle Eastern tour, Trump abandoned plans to travel to Turkey for the Ukraine negotiations and quickly flew back to the U.S. — to see his grandson, as his 31-year-old daughter Tiffany had just given birth to a baby boy.

Earlier on Friday, before arriving at his final stop in Dubai for his Middle Eastern trip, Trump mentioned on Air Force One that no progress would be made in the Russia-Ukraine talks before his meeting with Putin.

According to TASS, Trump also expressed confidence that he could organize and hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. On the return flight, he said he might call Putin.

He then stated that meeting with Zelenskyy was "not easy." He said, "I don't like what he says; he complicates things. I've always said he has no cards, and he really doesn't have any cards, and I'm telling the truth."

Trump also claimed that only under his mediation could the Ukrainian crisis possibly be resolved peacefully.

The U.S. has repeatedly proposed holding a summit between the U.S. and Russia, with the White House stating that they expected such meetings to "take place soon."

Regarding the U.S.'s proposal for a "Trump-Putin Summit," on the 16th, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Russian media, saying that Russia agreed to high-level serious dialogue with the U.S. was "necessary," but such meetings required "careful preparation."

This article is an exclusive contribution by the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7505262451609354778/

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