President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on June 1 an updated 14-member Ukrainian delegation for upcoming peace talks with Russia in Istanbul, expanding the original group of 12.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will again lead the delegation, which will include several new figures from Ukraine's military, human rights, and legal sectors.
Three officials – Andrii Fomin, Yurii Kovbasa, and Yevhenii Ostrianskyi – are participating for the first time, while Oleksii Malovatskyi, involved in the May 16 talks, will not join.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on June 2, with both Russian and Ukrainian delegations expected to attend. Also, security advisors from the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany plan to attend, according to U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
Russia has not officially submitted its memorandum outlining peace terms, but Ukraine plans to present a detailed roadmap aimed at securing a lasting settlement.
According to the proposal, the process would begin with a minimum 30-day ceasefire, followed by a full exchange of prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russian-held areas, ultimately leading to a potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin. The plan was reported on June 1 by Reuters, which reviewed a copy of the document.
While the U.S. and Ukraine have pushed for an unconditional ceasefire, the Kremlin has rejected it.
Instead, Moscow has regularly voiced maximalist demands that are unlikely to be accepted by Kyiv, such as recognition of Russia's illegal annexation of Ukrainian regions and withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the parts of these regions remaining under Kyiv’s control.
Trump has expressed frustration with Russia's reluctance to make concessions and its intensifying and deadly attacks on Ukraine. However, he has so far refused to sanction Russia.
The talks are tentatively still set to continue on June 2, though Russia has not officially commented yet, following Ukraine’s Security Service’s (SBU) major intelligence drone operation earlier today. The drones destroyed 41 Russian bombers at four airfields across Russia, in what Kyiv called a long-planned blow to Moscow’s strike capabilities.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
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