Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul scheduled for Wed evening - sources
ISTANBUL/MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - Ukraine settlement negotiations are scheduled to start in Istanbul on the evening of July 23, sources in Istanbul and Moscow familiar with their preparations told Interfax.
"The negotiations on Ukraine are scheduled for Wednesday evening," they said.
The Anka Haber Turkish news agency, for its part, reported that the next round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is expected to begin in Istanbul in the evening.
"The third round of negotiations is scheduled to start at the Ciragan Palace at 7:00 p.m.," it said.
The Russian delegation has left for Istanbul for talks with the Ukrainian side, a representative of aviation services told Interfax on Wednesday."The Russian delegation's plane has taken off from Moscow to Turkey," the representative said.
The Russian delegation's composition in the talks with Ukraine was approved on May 14, 2025 by a presidential order. The delegation is led Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also led the group of Russian negotiators in Istanbul in spring 2022. It also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate head Igor Kostyukov, and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
The group of experts to the talks consists of first deputy head of the General Staff Information Directorate Alexander Zorin, deputy head of the presidential department for state humanitarian policy Yelena Podobreyevskaya, director of the Foreign Ministry's 2nd CIS Department Alexei Polishchuk, and deputy head of the Defense Ministry's Main Department for International Military Cooperation Viktor Shevtsov.
"The Russian team to talks with Ukraine still consists of four main delegation members and four experts," an informed Russian source said in response to media reports that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has increased Kiev's group of negotiators from 12 to 14 people.
The first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks took place in Istanbul on May 16, 2025. The second round took place on June 2, 2025.