Ukraine and Russia will hold their first direct peace talks in three years on Friday, meeting in Istanbul, an unconditional ceasefire internationally, and a discussion in Istanbul.
But expectations for progress remain low, and Kiev and Moscow remain far apart under key conditions of ending years of Russian war and Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Russian-Ukrainian peace agreement will "nothing happens" until he meets Vladimir Putin.
Istanbul had previously held peace talks in Istanbul after Kiev exposed atrocities by Moscow forces in Bucha and other parts of Ukraine occupied in the weeks before the full-scale invasion and other parts of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will be at 12:30 local time in Istanbul with the lower team in Russia, led by presidential aide and former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky. Negotiations began the latest diplomatic push as Putin refused to face Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But a possible meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin will be on the agenda of the Ukrainian delegation, Ukrainian diplomat in Istanbul said.
Zelenskyy met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Thursday. Ukrainian leaders regarded the Russian delegation as a "substitute prop", questioning the qualifications of their members and "whether they can make any decisions".
Still, Zelenskyy said the ceasefire could be reached if Kiev and Moscow negotiators could find something in common on Friday.
Ukrainian officials in Istanbul said the Kiev team "prepared to...get tangible results".
"The question is whether the Russian side is ready to take real steps toward peace. So far, Russia has hampered all constructive efforts in Ukraine."
Zelenskyy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said he and Umerov met with other Ukrainian officials with the Ukrainian special Ukrainian Keith Kellogg and British national security adviser Jonathan Powell to coordinate positions before meeting with the Russian delegation. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also held in Istanbul on Friday and met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha and French and German diplomatic advisers.
"Ukraine is ready for a peaceful and lasting unconditional ceasefire. We are also ready for the highest level of meetings and negotiations," said Yermak.
Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said late Thursday that his team had "prepared" after preliminary talks with Turkish officials.
Medinsky, who also led the Moscow delegation in the last direct negotiations in Istanbul in early 2022, described his negotiating team as flexible and would be "constructive", but other officials suggested that Russia would not back off the demands of its biggestists.
Crimean Tatar and experienced negotiator Umerov also represented Kyiv in the first Istanbul negotiations three years ago and have been part of the reverse channel talks with Russians on humanitarian affairs and prisoners.
Senior Turkish officials will join the Russian-Ukrainian talks.
The U.S. envoy is not expected to meet with the Russian delegation.
Meanwhile, in Kiev, the sirens were loudly clamoring before dawn, Russia launched another missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital and other cities. Ukraine's air force reported that one of its F-16 fighters was lost while "performing a mission to repel enemy air strikes."
High Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times earlier this week that Russia appears to be moving from Kursk and elsewhere to strategic hotspots on the battlefield rather than sending preparations for a peace talk.
Ukrainian Analytical Group, deeply located at the State University close to the Ministry of Defense, reported in recent days that Russian armed forces have occupied more ground in the eastern Donetsk region, especially in the flashpoint cities of Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar. The Russians have increased the pace of the offensive and the amount of territory captured each month in the past three months.
Ukraine has managed to block a major breakthrough in the 1,000-km front, but it has been working to stop the Russians' grinding progress. Kiev may face growing difficulties as it gets stuck with problematic mobilization movements, while the US provides less operational of weapons and ammunition.