War in Ukraine: the Kremlin expects “a very complicated discussion” with kyiv

The Kremlin said he expected “a very complicated discussions” with kyiv during the peace negotiations scheduled for Wednesday evening in Istanbul, removing the possibility of rapid diplomatic advances again to end the war.

“No one is expecting an easy path. Of course, it will be a very complicated discussion, “the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, told the press, repeating that the respective belligerents’ proposals to arrest the conflict were” diametrically opposed “.

This third direct exchange session in Istanbul is actually involved under pressure from US President Donald Trump who gave Moscow, mid-July, 50 days to reach an agreement with kyiv, under penalty of severe sanctions.

kyiv and its Western allies accuse the Kremlin of blocking negotiations by maintaining maximalist requests, while the Russian army, more numerous and better equipped, continues its bombings and its attacks on the front, where it still nibbles on the ground.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to conquer a new village, Varatchyné, in the Ukrainian region of Soumy (northeast).

In this sense, the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas had judged that Mr. Trump’s 50 -day period represented a “very long” duration when “innocent civilians die every day”.

The conflict, launched in February 2022 by the Russian Invasion on a large scale of Ukraine, made tens of thousands of deaths in both camps, civil and military.

According to kyiv and Moscow, their delegations were on Wednesday at midday for Istanbul, where talks are planned in the evening.

The prospect of diplomatic advances still appears to be very limited, as the positions of the two camps currently seem irreconcilable.

The previous talks in Istanbul in May and June had only led to the exchange agreements of prisoners and bodies of killed soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday to expect to discuss with Moscow new exchanges and the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken to Russia.

The Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul will be carried out as previous times by the former Minister of Defense Roustem Oumerov, deemed to end diplomat.

On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov also said that the composition of the Russian team remained “unchanged” and will be carried out, as in the past times, by a second plan, to the Dam of kyiv: the ex-minister of culture and nationalist historian Vladimi Medinski.

According to Mr. Peskov, the discussions scheduled for Wednesday will mainly relate to the “memorandums” exchanged in June by the two camps and including their peace proposals which, according to Mr. Peskov, are “diametrically opposed”.

It will also be a question, during talks, “of the very important process” of prisoners, confirmed Mr. Peskov.

On the ground, the strikes and fights continue.

During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, 71 Russian drones targeted Ukraine, according to the Air Force, injuring two children in the Ukrainian region of Kherson (South) where a woman was also killed by a Russian artillery strike, according to local authorities.

For its part, the Russian army claimed to have neutralized 33 Ukrainian drones overnight launched against its territory.

Russia claims that Ukraine gives it four partially occupied regions of the East and the South of the country, in addition to the Crimea annexed in 2014, renounces Western arms deliveries and any membership in NATO.

Unacceptable conditions for Ukraine, which wants the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory and Western security guarantees including the continuation of arms deliveries and the deployment of a European contingent, to which Moscow is opposed.

kyiv also insists, in concert with his European allies, on the need for a 30-day ceasefire, to which Moscow refuses, whose forces have the advantage on the ground.

Since his return to power, the American leader Donald Trump has come closer to Moscow to try to stop the war. In vain.

In recent weeks, he has expressed his frustration with regard to Moscow. He also said that military equipment paid by European NATO members, are sent to Ukraine.