‘Moscow demands unacceptable’: Kyiv calls for Zelenskyy-Putin meeting as ‘next step’ after anbul talks | World News

Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks since 2022 in anbul’s horic Dolmabahce Palace on Friday, but the two warring countries did not achieve any substantive breakthrough, barring an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each — the largest such swap of the war.Soon after the talks, Ukraine’s foreign minry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said the Russian delegation voiced a number of things that they deemed “unacceptable,” but Ukrainian officials handled it “in a calm manner,: The Guardian reported.
Moscow reportedly stuck to its territorial and political demands and rejected Ukraine’s call for a 30-day ceasefire as a precondition for talks.
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Turkish Foreign Miner Hakan Fidan chaired the meeting, which barely lasted two hours.
While the prisoner exchange deal was welcomed, the two sides remained unyielding on core issues. Ukraine’s western allies and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Russia’s position, and renewed calls for tough sanctions if Russia continues to reject a ceasefire.
In this handout photo released Turkish Foreign Minry, Turkish Foreign Miner Hakan Fidan, center, chairs a meeting between delegations from Russia, right, and Ukraine, left, at Dolmabahce palace in anbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Murat Gok/Turkish Foreign Minry via AP)
“Our position – if the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow,” Zelenskyy posted on X. “Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war.”
Ukrainian defence miner Rustem Umerov says his country’s objective is to hold “high-level discussions”.Story continues below this ad
“I think the next step would be that [a] leaders level meeting should be organised. That would be our next step,” adding “Ukraine wants peace”.
Putin stays away
Putin, who proposed the meeting, chose not to attend in person and instead sent a mid-level delegation led ultra-conservative Kremlin aide and former culture miner Vladimir Medinsky. Zelenskyy questioned Moscow’s seriousness and derided the Russian officials as “theatre props”.
“Unfortunately, [the Russians] are not serious enough about the negotiations … Out of respect for President [Donald] Trump and [the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, I have decided to send our delegation to anbul now,” Zelenskyy said.
Medinsky, known for questioning Ukraine’s sovereignty and promoting horical revisionism, reportedly invoked Tsar Peter I’s prolonged war against Sweden as a warning to Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow was prepared to outlast Kyiv in a drawn-out conflict.Story continues below this ad
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky leaves the Russian consulate in anbul, Turkey, on Friday, May 16, 2025, after a statement for journals. (Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik, Pool Photo via AP)
“Moscow was satisfied with the results and was prepared to keep talking to Kyiv,” said Medinsky after the meeting.
Kyiv had pushed for a 30-day ceasefire as a basis for the talks and even indicated a willingness to drop its bid to join NATO in return for increased Western support and security guarantees, possibly including European troops on Ukrainian soil. Russia, however, rejected the ceasefire demand, arguing it would allow Ukraine time to regroup at a moment when Russian forces are reportedly making gains on the battlefield.
The Kremlin instead framed the talks as a continuation of failed negotiations from March 2022, during which it had called for major restrictions on Ukraine’s sovereignty, including demilitarisation and limits on rebuilding its defence with Western aid. These conditions remain unacceptable to Kyiv and its allies.
European leaders rally behind Kyiv
Following the failed talks, European leaders, who were accompanied Zelenskyy, convened in Tirana, Albania, where they spoke to Trump telephonically. A photo from the meeting showed the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Poland sitting with Zelenskyy around a speakerphone, reinforcing unity in the face of Moscow’s demands.Story continues below this ad
“We just had a meeting with President Zelenskyy and then a phone call with President Trump to discuss the developments in the negotiations today,” UK Prime Miner Keir Starmer said. “And the Russian position is clearly unacceptable, and not for the first time. So as a result of that meeting with President Zelenskyy and that call with President Trump we are now closely aligning our responses and will continue to do so.”
However, Zelenskyy’s hope of leveraging Washington’s influence to pressure Russia hit a wall. Trump downplayed the anbul talks and said that “nothing is going to happen” until he meets Putin in person. On Friday, the US president said he would meet the Russian leader “as soon as we can set it up”, raising concerns in Kyiv that a US-Russia summit could marginalise Ukraine in its own war.
Britain’s Prime Miner Keir Starmer, left, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s President Emmanuel Macron, right, in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)
Zelenskyy, who had made several concessions in recent weeks to satisfy US expectations, including agreeing to talks without a ceasefire, is now facing criticism at home for appearing empty-handed after the anbul meeting. While he has repeatedly called for a one-on-one with Putin, it remains unclear if Moscow would agree, especially given the optics of the Russian leader sending lower-level delegates to a meeting he himself proposed.