Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Halts Talks With Russia

• 12.11.2025, 18:43

After three rounds of negotiations in Turkey.

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this year ended without much progress, so it was decided to suspend them, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kislitsa said in an interview with Times on Tuesday.

He said Kiev has been actively working since summer 2025 to get Ukraine's international partners to increase pressure on Putin to agree to a face-to-face meeting with President Vladimir Zelensky. "In a dictatorship, it is impossible to have fruitful discussions with negotiating teams representing the dictator. They have a very tough mandate and they have to defend the position they were told to defend," Kislitsa said, referring to the negotiation process of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul.

The talks in Turkey were held in three stages - in May, June and July. One of the key positions of the Ukrainian side was an unconditional ceasefire and a halt to strikes on civilian infrastructure. Led by Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky, the de facto delegation rejected the truce. Moscow also demanded that Ukraine's annexed territories be recognized by Russia and that the AFU's numbers be limited.

After Kislitsa's interview, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the Kremlin was ready to resume talks with Ukraine in Turkey, stressing that the peace process had been suspended by Kiev.