Ukraine peace talks: High-stakes diplomacy in Kyiv

• The meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian negotiation teams will take place on Monday in Kyiv. This is a crucial moment for both sides.
• The delegations will be led by Medinsky and Umerov. Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian politician of Ukrainian origin, will head the Russian delegation, while Rust Umerov, Ukraine's Minister of Defence, will lead the Ukrainian side.
• Representatives from other countries will also join the delegates. The Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, will be present, along with security representatives from Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.

The meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations will take place on Monday. However, the day before, a conflict occurred that might bode poorly for the negotiations. Kyiv requested the presentation of Russian conditions for ending the invasion of Ukraine before the meeting. However, Moscow did not agree and does not intend to meet the expectations of the Ukrainian negotiators, calling this proposal "unconstructive".

As reported by the TASS agency, the Russian side intends to present a document with their demands only during the talks. They referred to it as a "memorandum that sets out our views on all aspects of reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis."

Before the talks commence, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, will deliver a speech. European countries will also support Ukraine in the discussions with Russia. Representatives from Germany, the United Kingdom, and France will join the talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Representatives from Moscow and Kyiv previously met on 16th May in Istanbul. However, no breakthrough was achieved, so the outcome of the talks on Monday, 2nd June, remains uncertain. In Istanbul, only the details regarding the exchange of prisoners were agreed upon, and this was subsequently carried out.