Late on May 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the composition of the Russian delegation for negotiations with Ukraine, scheduled to take place in Turkey on May 15. Putin himself is not included in the list, reports the Baltimore Chronicle, citing Kremlin press service.
The delegation will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a presidential aide who previously led the Russian side during talks with Ukraine in 2022. Other members of the delegation include Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
The official document also lists a group of “experts” accompanying the delegation. Among them are Alexander Zorin, First Deputy Head of the General Staff’s Information Directorate; Elena Podobreyevskaya, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration’s Department for Humanitarian Policy; Alexey Polishchuk, Director of the Second Department of CIS Countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry; and Vladimir Shevtsov, Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation at the Russian Defense Ministry.
Earlier on May 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated he was awaiting Russia’s confirmation of its negotiating team before deciding on Ukraine’s next steps. Zelensky also announced a scheduled meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Thursday, adding that if Putin agreed to come to Istanbul, both he and Erdoğan would travel there. Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Andriy Yermak remarked that Putin’s refusal to attend in person would signal Russia’s unwillingness to end the war.
Earlier we wrote that Zelensky outlines conditions for potential meeting with Putin.