What does the continuation of the talks in Istanbul mean for Ukraine?

What does the continuation of the Istanbul talks mean for Kiev? The BBC's Svyatoslav Khomenko explains.

Vladimir Putin's proposal to "resume direct talks, suspended in 2022, without preconditions" seems unacceptable to Kiev - the very demand to "return to talks without preconditions" is conditional.

The negotiations that took place in the first weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine were nothing more than a discussion of the terms of Kiev's surrender put forward by Russia.

The clauses of the document that ultimately led to discussions, for example, provided for a limit on the number and nomenclature of weapons of the Ukrainian army or for Kiev to voluntarily abandon any military cooperation with the West. These clauses, as well as other demands from Moscow that correspond to Putin's phrase "eliminating the causes of the conflict" - were considered and are considered completely unacceptable in Kiev at the time, and especially now.

By the way, despite Putin's repeated statements at the time that the Ukrainian side violated the negotiations, Kiev claims that the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, did not approve any documents in 2022 - also because he did not have the appropriate authority.

In any case, demanding that Kiev return to the Istanbul talks "without prior conditions" is in fact an invitation to discuss exactly what ropes will be tied to Ukraine so that it cannot defend itself against a new Russian attack.

Another important fact: Putin is demanding that Kiev return to the negotiating table without ceasing hostilities. This logic is completely contrary to what Volodymyr Zelensky has been repeating since the first week: he says that he will be ready to hold direct negotiations only when the gunfire stops, which will allow Russia to prove the seriousness of its intention to end the war. In short, the differences between the positions of Moscow and Kiev are very large and fundamental.

But it is difficult to say whether the third major character in this saga, Donald Trump, understands the details. Because there are two possible stories to this story.

On the one hand, Putin rejected the West and Ukraine's offer of a thirty-day truce. By this logic, all his subsequent words are pure fiction, which means that he should be punished with the promised heavy sanctions.

On the other hand, Putin is no longer talking about Zelensky's "illegitimateness" and is ready for direct negotiations with Ukraine. If you look at the situation this way, Kiev's refusal to agree to the offer made by Putin would be seen as sabotage of the peace process, for which Trump could punish Zelensky.

The development of this plot in the form of reactions from Washington, European capitals and Kiev will occur in the coming hours. So far, the monitoring Telegram channels have reported that the first "martyrs" have flown into Ukrainian airspace in the past few days.

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