Security advisors from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are set to join the next round of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul, reports Baltimore Chronicle, according to ABC News.
According to General Keith Kellogg, the special envoy of US President Donald Trump, these advisors will be joining both the Ukrainian and American delegations at the talks. This group previously played a significant role in drafting Ukraine’s 22-point peace memorandum during earlier meetings in London and Paris.
However, Kellogg pointed out a major obstacle to the negotiations: the absence of a Russian version of the so-called memorandum. He stated that during a conversation with President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to deliver a document within a week—but no such proposal has been seen to date.
Kellogg said he had personally asked Andriy Yermak, the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, whether he had received any Russian memorandum. Yermak confirmed he had not. The same answer was given by Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s lead negotiator, who is set to head the delegation in Istanbul.
Highlighting the priorities of the upcoming talks, Kellogg stressed that the main objective is to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire—across air, land, and sea, and to halt attacks on civilian infrastructure.
He further emphasized the need to compare Ukrainian and potential Russian proposals, in order to identify which issues are open to negotiation and which are non-negotiable. “We’ll see where things stand when we’re in Istanbul next week,” the envoy added.
Earlier we wrote that peace talks in London downgraded.