Russia-Ukraine talks: hopes for peace memoranda and new dangers

The next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine is approaching. According to the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, draft memorandums prepared by the delegations of the two countries have been exchanged and will need to be carefully studied by both sides. Only then will the date and conditions for the next round of negotiations be agreed upon.

The Kremlin representative emphasized that it is difficult to set an exact date for this process. “The pace of negotiations will depend on the willingness and readiness of both sides to continue the negotiations, without standardization,” Peskov said. According to him, contacts are currently being established and relations between the parties are being formed, so determining the optimal dates is an important task.

On June 2, the second round of resumed direct negotiations was held in Istanbul, which lasted more than an hour. The delegations conducted the dialogue in Russian, and each side exchanged documents with its proposals for resolving the conflict. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, announced that a memorandum consisting of two parts had been submitted to Ukraine. The first part is devoted to general issues, while the second part contains several specific proposals for a ceasefire.

The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, proposed holding the next meeting on June 20-30. At the same time, the sides reached a specific agreement on the exchange of prisoners. The exchange will be carried out in the "all for all" format, covering young and seriously ill prisoners under the age of 25 from both countries. It is planned to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners from each side.

Russia also proposed a temporary ceasefire for two to three days in some areas of the front. However, the Ukrainian side has not yet given a specific response to this proposal.

Peskov noted that the escalation of the situation could also affect the negotiations. In particular, the Kremlin representative confirmed that the enemy had launched another attack on the Crimean bridge, but the bridge was not damaged as a result of this attack. The Ukrainian Security Service, however, declared the attack a “new, unique operation” and reported that the underwater parts of the bridge were damaged.

The Russian side also described the drone attacks on a number of airfields in the country as “acts of terrorism” and launched an investigation into the matter. The Kremlin said that all measures would be taken to identify and hold accountable those responsible for these attacks. These circumstances will undoubtedly affect the negotiations between the two countries and may further complicate the situation.

However, the Kremlin representative emphasized that for the negotiations to be effective, the parties must be open to dialogue. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin is also planning a series of international telephone conversations, which may be aimed at further accelerating and making the negotiation process more effective through international partners.

The prospects for the negotiations are still unclear, and disagreements between the parties continue. Therefore, the upcoming meetings will be of great importance, which may determine the future of the negotiations.