Ukraine: Zelenskyy-Putin talks should be 'next step' — Kyiv

After lower-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine held brief talks in Istanbul, DW spoke with Andrei Kozyrev, Russia's foreign minister from 1990 to 1996 under Boris Yeltsin, about the ongoing situation in Ukraine.

Kozyrev, who lives in the US, lamented the slowness of sanctions on Presdient Vladimir Putin's Russia.

"Three years ago, at the beginning there was a possibility probably to stop Putin by sanction," he said.

The former diplomat said the sanctions have been softened by the help from China, which is "supplying Putin with everything needed for the war of attrition."

Kozyrev doesn't take Putin nor the Istanbul talks seriously. "It's theatrics, diplomatic theatrics," he said. "And Putin enjoys it."

"He enjoys bombing Ukraine and he enjoys fooling Western leaders because that's what he wants. The West is too weak to stand against him," the former minister said.

Oscar Jenkins, a 33-year-old Australian man from Melbourne, was convicted of being a "mercenary in an armed conflict" and sentenced to 13 years in a strict-regime penal colony by a Russian-installed court in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region.

Russia considers foreigners who travel to Ukraine to fight as "mercenaries" and prosecutes them under its criminal code rather than treating them as prisoners of war, who are protected by the Geneva Convention.

The Australian government has repeatedly called on Russia to release Jenkins, a former biology teacher.

Russian forces captured Jenkins in December 2024. That same month, a video was shared by a Russian military blogger showing him being roughly interrogated and slapped in the face.

It was believed that he had been killed in captivity until Russia confirmed he was alive.

Belarusian state news agency BeITA reported that preparation for a large new military manoeuvre with Russia was under way.

"We plan to jointly develop measures to counter aggression against the Union State," BelTA quoted Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov as saying during a meeting with Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin in Minsk.

The agency reported the exercise — dubbed Zapad-2025, or West-2025 in English — would be the culmination of combat training of regional military formations and was been planned for mid-September.

In February, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited intelligence sources as saying that Russia was planning to move troops to Belarus.

In February 2022, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched from Belarus after troops massed near the border area with the movements also being called military exercises.

The Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin says Pope Leo XIV is considering the Vatican as a possible place for talks.

That's after direct peace negotiations between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, failed to materialize.

"The situation is very difficult, dramatic," German press agency dpa quoted Parolin — who is considered the second most important figure in the Vatican after the pope  as saying.

Parolin said that Leo plans to "potentially make the Vatican, the Holy See, available for a direct meeting between the two sides."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed regret at what he believed was missed opportunity to end fighting.

"This week, we had a real chance to move toward ending the war – if only [Russian President Vladimir] Putin hadn't been afraid to come to Türkiye," Zelenskyy posted on X.

"I was there ready for a direct meeting with him to resolve all key issues. He didn’t agree to anything," Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader said Russia had sent a delegation to Istanbul that "was of a very low level" with no decision-makers.

"If this Russian delegation proves to be theatrical and can’t deliver any results today, the world must respond," Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine was "ready to take all realistic steps to end this war."

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said he believed the next stage of talks should involve the presidents of Ukraine and Russia, following talks with the Kremlin's delegation in Istanbul.

"I think the next step would be that the leaders-level meeting should be organised," Umerov — who is Kyiv's lead negotiator — told reporters in Istanbul.

The comments came after the first face-to-face peace talks between the sides in more than three years.

Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, Serhiy Kyslytsia, said he hoped the nations' two leaders would meet "sooner rather than later."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said they had spoken with Donald Trump on Friday.

The phone call with the US President was held after the peace talks in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia had ended on Friday.

In a post on X after the call, Zelenskyy said his country is "ready to take the fastest possible steps to bring real peace, and it is important that the world holds a strong stance."

The Ukrainian president repeated his belief that "tough sanctions must follow" if Russia fails to agree to a "full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings."

"Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war," he added.

Merz, meanwhile, emphasized that the Europeans must continue to work together with the US government under Trump "to do everything we can to keep the Americans on our side." 

"We cannot replace or supersede what the Americans are still doing for us in Europe, on our continent and for our peace and freedom," the German leader said.

Russia and Ukraine, whose representatives met for peace talks in Istanbul on Friday, have agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war (POWs).

Negotiators from both countries both confirmed the agreement after the meetings in Istanbul had ended.

The head of Russia's delegation Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that "in the coming days, there will be a large-scale exchange of prisoners, 1,000 for 1,000."

Medinsky also said Moscow had "taken note" of a request by Ukraine for the leaders of their two countries, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, to hold direct talks.

In a separate statement, Ukraine's top negotiator in Istanbul, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, confirmed the POW swap.

Umerov added that a ceasefire and a potential face-to-face meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin had also been discussed.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also confirmed the swap, saying it had been agreed as a "confidence-building measure."

Previous prisoner exchanges, including the latest one in April that saw more than 500 POWs swapped, have failed to yield a breakthrough in peace negotiations.

The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland agree that Russia's stance in peace talks with Ukraine is "unacceptable," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

Speaking to reporters alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, Starmer said they were working on "aligning" their response to the talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul.

Although Moscow has said it is "satisfied" with the talks, a Ukrainian source has condemned Russia's demands as "non-starters."

 "The last few hours have shown that Russia is not interested in a ceasefire," French President Emmanuel Macron said. 

Macron emphasized that a ceasefire "will not come about spontaneously if there is no increased pressure from Europeans and Americans".

Starmer warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "pay the price if Russia does not come to the negotiating table." 

European leaders have said they are considering imposing heavy sanctions on Russia unless there is tangible progress in peace negotiations. 
 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has welcomed the Istanbul meeting between representatives from Ukraine and Russia as "a very small but first positive signal."

Merz made the remarks at a summit of the European Political Community (EPC) in Tirana.

While he struck a cautiously optimistic note, Ukrainian representatives have accused Russia of making "unacceptable demands" and of deliberately hindering progress in peace talks.

Although the German chancellor praised the "very, very small diplomatic successes," he said Germany "must also make our military support for Ukraine very clear."

"There should be no doubt that we are ready to continue our support," Merz said.  

Since taking office this month, Merz has pledged to boost German defense spending and has vowed to make Germany's army the strongest in Europe.

A source at the Turkish foreign ministry confirmed to the AFP news agency that talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, which began at 10:40 GMT, had ended after 90 minutes.

The meeting was the first time representatives from Russia and Ukraine have met face-to-face since 2022, just after Russia's full-scale invasion began. 

Ahead of the meeting, expectations of a breakthrough in peace negotiations were low, and any remaining hopes were largely dashed after US President Donald Trump said Thursday that there would be no progress on the issue until he and Russian President Valdimir Putin meet.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source attending the talks in Istanbul has said that Russian negotiators had demanded that Ukraine give up territory that is still controlled by Kyiv.

The source accused Moscow of making "unacceptable demands" as part of a strategy by the Kremlin to hinder peace efforts.

"Russian representatives are putting forward unacceptable demands ... such as for Ukraine to withdraw forces from large parts of Ukrainian territory it controls in order for a ceasefire to begin," the source said.

The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said it seemed as if the Russian delegation "deliberately wants to throw non-starters on the table in order to walk away from today's meeting without any results."

Russia's demands were "detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed," the Ukrainian source added.

Moscow has demanded Kyiv withdraw its forces from the only partially Russian-occupied southern and eastern regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia claimed to have annexed the regions in their entirety in September, 2022.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his country's Western allies to show a "strong reaction" against Moscow if peace talks taking place in Istanbul on Friday don't yield any tangible progress. 

Lower level delegations from Ukraine and Russia were meeting in the Turkish city, the first time representatives from the two warring nations have held direct talks since the spring of 2022, just after Russia's full-scale invasion began.

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin last week proposed the talks in Turkey, he has not attended the Istanbul meetings.

"We had a real chance to take important steps toward ending this war if only Putin had not been afraid to come to Turkey," Zelenskyy told a European Political Community summit in the Albanian capital, Tirana.

"If it turns out that the Russian delegation really is just theatrical and can't deliver any results today ... there needs to be a strong reaction, including sanctions against Russia's energy sector and banks," he said.

Zelenskyy said only a "full, unconditional, and honest ceasefire" would provide a "solid basis for diplomacy" to end the war.

The Ukrainian leader stressed that the delegation he has sent to Istanbul "has a mandate to make decisions" as he called on Putin "to give his delegation real authority."

"Pressure must continue to rise until real progress is made. Ukraine is ready to take all realistic steps to end this war," Zelenskyy said.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations are holding direct negotiations in Istanbul, marking the first talks of the kind since 2022, the year the war started.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for sending what he described as a "low-level" team to Ukraine talks in Turkey and avoiding a direct meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy said he would not take part in talks due to Putin's absence, instead sending a delegation headed by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source told news agencies that Kyiv would make securing a ceasefire its main focus in talks.

DW will bring you the latest news, analysis and insight from our reporters and correspondents regarding Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Stay tuned for more.

The European Union is working on a new sanctions against Russia, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

"We will increase the pressure," von der Leyen said before a meeting with European leaders in Albania.

She said the package would include sanctions against Russia's financial sector and Nordstream 1 and 2, gas pipelines that run from Russia to Germany. 

Sanctions against Nordstream would be more of a symbolic gesture as no gas currently flows through the pipelines. 

Sanctions would also be imposed on more ships that are part of Russia's shadow fleet, she said, referring to tankers involved in smuggling Russian oil in violation of sanctions. 

Von der Leyen also talked of lowering the oil price cap paid for Russian oil, a measure aimed at cutting one of Russia's most important sources of income.