Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday declared that Moscow is prepared to resume negotiations with Ukraine on the basis of the draft agreements discussed in Istanbul in March-April 2022, Ukrainian news outlet RBC reports. Speaking at a government meeting, Putin said,
Russia, as has been stated many times, is ready for negotiations with Ukraine. It is ready on the basis of the agreements reached in Istanbul, which, as a reminder, were initiated by the Ukrainian delegation.
He added that negotiations could take place “based on the Istanbul agreements, the Anchorage agreements, and realities on the ground”—saying battlefield realities favored Russia. The Russian president emphasized that Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, particularly those affecting civilians, “only encourage” Russian troops to continue their operations.
The 2022 Istanbul framework proposed Ukraine’s permanent neutrality and renunciation of NATO membership, limits on its armed forces (around 85,000 troops), restrictions on foreign military presence and heavy weapons, and security guarantees from countries including Russia, the U.S., the UK, France, and China. Russia would have withdrawn from most occupied territories except Crimea, with the status of parts of Donbas left for future talks. The Istanbul talks broke down in mid-May 2022, according to former Israeli PM Naftali Bennet after Western powers intervened and, according to Ukrainska Pravda, former British PM Boris Johson met with Zelensky and advised him not to accept the peace deal.
Kyiv has rejected the idea of reviving the framework, insisting any talks must respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and align with President Zelensky’s peace formula, including full Russian withdrawal.
