The location of the talks is still the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not travel to Turkey even though Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky has been waiting in the capital Ankara. Both US President Donald Trump have also expressed his readiness to travel to Istanbul but have decided not to. Therefore, this direct negotiation between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul takes place at a lower level. The three-year-old direct talks between Russia and Ukraine failed and the conflict between the two sides has continued since then.
The two sides' direct negotiations with each other, even though they are only at a low level, are a positive and encouraging move because they have to negotiate with each other before reaching an agreement with each other. negotiating with each other always creates opportunities for the parties involved to work together to reach an agreement.
However, this direct negotiation between Russia and Ukraine is unlikely to fail as the previous one. The level of negotiation is not the level that can decide the outcome of negotiations right at the negotiation table. The fact that neither Putin nor Trump have visited Istanbul is enough to show they do not believe that Russia and Ukraine can reach an agreement on all the contents that both sides want and need to negotiate with each other.
The EU has increased sanctions against Russia, some NATO member states and the EU have even issued a letter of attainment to Russia, and the US's continued military aid to Ukraine is all aimed at forcing Russia instead of encouraging it to enter direct negotiations with Ukraine.
Therefore, even if they agree to negotiate directly with Ukraine without any preconditions as of the past, the Russian side will certainly not easily make a concession. The current round of negotiations is very difficult to achieve a breakthrough result because only when negotiating at a higher level than at present can we fortunately achieve a result, or the Russian side will negotiate with the US first and only then enter an agreement with Ukraine.
