War in Ukraine: Negotiations for Nothing? Trump Dampens Ceasefire Hopes
The essentials
- Direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to take place this Friday, May 16, at 11:30 a.m. (Paris time). The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, assured Thursday evening that the Russians were "ready to work" and would be expecting the Ukrainian delegation in the morning. Prior to this statement, the Turkish government had only announced the holding of tripartite meetings between the United States, Turkey, and Ukraine on one side and the United States, Turkey, and Russia on the other.
- Faced with Vladimir Putin's absence from the Russian delegation, Volodymyr Zelensky also refused to participate in the talks. The Ukrainian president accused the Kremlin of not "taking the negotiations seriously enough" and called for new sanctions: "Russia does not consider it necessary to end the war."
- Donald Trump will also be absent from the negotiations. The United States does not place much hope in these negotiations, and the American president even stated that "nothing will happen, whether you like it or not, as long as [Vladimir Putin] and [he] are not together."
- While Ukraine, its European allies, and the United States support the idea of a 30-day truce before lasting peace in Ukraine, the chances of a ceasefire agreement are receding. Russia continues to demand that Ukraine renounce NATO membership and guarantees that it will retain the Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia) and the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014. These conditions are rejected by Ukraine, which demands solid Western "security guarantees" to prevent any further Russian attacks and that Moscow's military withdraw from its territory.
A few hours before the Russian-Ukrainian meeting, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot denounced the absence of the Russian president and reaffirmed France's support for "the peace camp, that is to say, that of Ukraine, against the war camp, that of Vladimir Putin, who has chosen to pursue the empty chair policy" on the set of France 2. "I hope that these discussions [between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations] can take place, can move forward today, but I have little hope. On the one hand, because Vladimir Putin refused to go to Turkey himself and, on the other hand, because we cannot negotiate peacefully under the bombs," added the minister, referring to the ongoing clashes in Ukraine.
A meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations is theoretically scheduled to take place this Friday morning. It will take place at 9:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. in Paris) between the two warring countries, and Turkey has just confirmed this to the Turkish authorities. Such a meeting still seemed unthinkable yesterday, but the head of the Russian delegation finally announced that he would meet with Kyiv's representatives late Thursday evening.
END OF LIVE - Moscow has once again established itself as the master of the clock in these Russo-Ukrainian talks. On Thursday, around 11 p.m., when a meeting between Russia and Ukraine seemed dead and buried, the head of the Russian delegation announced that the team sent by Moscow would await the one from Kyiv this Friday, at 10 a.m., in Turkey. Vladimir Medinsky assured that the Russians were "ready to work." This announcement followed the "fruitful" meeting, in his words, with the Turkish Foreign Ministry held Thursday evening. There, Moscow would have had the opportunity to explain its position.
This is what a source at the Turkish Foreign Ministry is suggesting, according to which trilateral meetings are to take place this Friday in Istanbul. On the one hand, the Turks and Americans will meet with the Russians, on the other they will meet with the Ukrainians. "It is not certain that a meeting will be held in the quadripartite format (United States, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey)," states a press release relayed by Le Monde .
Before the start of talks between Russians and Ukrainians, the delegation sent by Vladimir Putin met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul on Thursday evening. The meeting began shortly before 8:30 p.m.
A few days after the election of the new pope, Emmanuel Macron spoke for the very first time with Leo XIV this Thursday by telephone, he revealed on X. On this occasion, they discussed "the efforts to be made to silence the guns wherever conflicts rage in the world, in particular for a solid and lasting peace in Ukraine and Gaza," the President of the Republic indicated.
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