Russia claims Ukraine's pitch landed ahead of Istanbul talks

 Russia has received Ukraine’s peace proposals ahead of the talks in Istanbul. This was announced by the head of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul negotiations, Vladimir Medinsky, according to the Russian state media outlet RT.

According to him, the document arrived in both Ukrainian and English.

"No worries, we managed to understand it. Our delegation includes people who speak several languages. Two of them are fluent in Japanese, just in case," he said.

He also noted that the key points of the document have already appeared in Western media.

Ukraine-Russia talks

After the first round of negotiations with Ukraine on May 16 in Istanbul, Russia announced it was preparing a so-called memorandum outlining its vision for a ceasefire.

This week, Moscow said it had finished working on the document, but did not officially share it with the Ukrainian side. Instead, it proposed holding a second round of talks on June 2, again in Istanbul.

Ukraine insisted that Russia submit its proposals ahead of the meeting, but that never happened.

According to Reuters, the Ukrainian delegation is expected to present a roadmap for resolving the war at today’s meeting. Key points include at least a 30-day ceasefire, an all-for-all prisoner exchange, the return of abducted Ukrainian children, and a direct meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian delegation, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, has already been approved. It also includes representatives from the President’s Office, the Foreign Ministry, the General Staff, the SBU, and the Foreign Intelligence Service.