Kremlin braces for diplomatic deadlock as talks falter in Istanbul
The political bloc of Vladimir Putin's administration has instructed affiliated media to prepare audiences for the potential failure of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul, as reported by "Meduza", citing the guidelines provided to media executives.
The document obtained by Mediazona mentions, among other things, a "new package of sanctions" with which the United States, under Donald Trump's administration, threatened the Kremlin should the peace process be undermined. Propaganda media have been advised to communicate that the new sanctions "will not harm the country's development" and that the budget has already been "planned with them in consideration."
In line with the instructions, loyal media are to reassure audiences that Russia "is successfully coping with any sanctions," including, as the document emphasizes, in the energy sector, which is "developing steadily."
Putin initiates talks. He chickened out himself
The media should portray Putin's refusal to attend the negotiations, which he had initiated, as a demonstration of his decisiveness. Instead, Putin sent his advisor, Vladimir Medinsky, to Istanbul. As outlined in the guidelines, this decision was influenced "neither anything Donald Trump said nor anything Zelensky declared."
The first direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv representatives since 2022 nearly collapsed after Zelenskyy proposed a personal meeting with Putin. However, Putin opted not to travel to Istanbul and dispatched a four-member delegation, which partially mirrored the team from previous talks with Ukrainians three years ago.
In addition to Medinsky, the delegation included Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, and head of Russian military intelligence Igor Kostyukov. Zelenskyy, who was in Turkey for talks with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, described the delegation's composition as "decorative" and stated there was "no reason" to travel to Istanbul.
Moscow wants to return to talks from 2022
The talks originally scheduled for Thursday, 15 May, were postponed to Friday. According to the latest information, the start was planned for 08:00 GMT.
Medinsky, in a statement to the media, expressed that Russia views these negotiations as a continuation of the process in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, a few weeks after the conflict began. At that time, Moscow demanded that Kyiv abandon plans to join NATO, recognise the Russian status of Crimea and Donbas, and significantly reduce the size of its armed forces.
