Ukraine: We thank Turkey for its facilitating role

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, regarding Turkey's role in the talks between Russia and Ukraine, said: "We would like to thank Turkey for its facilitating role on this platform, an important platform for dialogue and peace."

Members of the delegation representing Ukraine spoke at a press conference following the Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting hosted by Turkey in Istanbul.

Umerov said that they completed the third meeting with the Russian delegation and that Ukraine clearly conveyed the priorities expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Emphasizing that the first priority is to organize a meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Umerov said that the participation of US President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in this possible meeting would be extremely valuable.

Umerov underlined that a real ceasefire and the cessation of attacks on all civilian structures would be the first steps necessary for lasting peace.

Umerov stated that they have proposed to the Russian side to organize a meeting between the leaders by the end of August, and if this is accepted, Moscow will show a constructive attitude and show this to all partners.

"Ukraine is ready for ceasefire and peace talks"

Stating that his country sees a comprehensive and unconditional ceasefire as the basis of diplomacy, Umerov said, "We are ready for a ceasefire and significant peace talks here now. We expect the other side to take the most fundamental step towards this peace."

Umerov said that the ceasefire must be sincere and the attacks on civilian structures and critical infrastructure must stop, adding that they expect more progress on the exchange of prisoners of war.

"We thank Turkey for its facilitating role"

Noting that they hope that civilians, especially children, will be released, Umerov said, "We would like to thank our partners for supporting our efforts for peace, especially Turkey for its facilitating role in this platform, an important platform for dialogue and peace."

Umerov pointed out that real steps are possible and that the Russian side should also take a constructive and realistic approach and that they will continue to work to achieve this.

Russia agrees to release those held captive for more than 3 years

Yuri Kovbasa, Representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Ukrainian Parliament, stated that they will continue to work on prisoners of war as before and said, "We made an appeal to the Russian side to release those who have been held captive for more than 3 years. The Russian side agreed to this, especially for the exchange of wounded and prisoners in such situations."

Answering the questions of the press members, Umerov said that regarding the release of civilians, this concerns more than 1200 people and that they will continue to work on this process.

Regarding the possibility of a leaders' meeting between Russia and Ukraine, Umerov said, "We expressed our expectations here. We suggested what could be discussed here and said that we could prepare the agenda in this way."

On whether there will be a fourth meeting with the Russian delegation, Umerov stated that the exchange of prisoners of war in the humanitarian sense will continue and reiterated their call for an end to all hostilities and a full and unconditional ceasefire.

Umerov also noted that they see the leaders' meeting as a priority, adding that they will wait for the results on these issues and that there is progress in humanitarian terms at this stage.

Pointing out that his country is always ready for negotiations on ceasefire, Umerov emphasized that they have started negotiations in the process initiated with the US and that ceasefire is always a priority for Ukraine.

Pointing out that there is no step to be taken by the Ukrainian side at this stage, Umerov said, "The world should be aware of this and support Ukraine for a ceasefire. We are ready, it is the Russian side that does not agree on this issue."

Umerov said that they started working with the Russian side after 6 p.m. and ended the talks around 9:30 p.m. They discussed humanitarian, political and cessation of hostilities issues, and only one issue was resolved.

Members of the delegation representing Ukraine spoke at a press conference following the Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting hosted by Turkey in Istanbul.

Tykhyi stated that this meeting took place in a more constructive and calm atmosphere compared to the previous meeting and said, "Both sides repeated their positions."

Emphasizing that it is wrong to call the documents shared between the parties as "memorandum", Tykhyi said, "Russia expresses it this way, but the memorandum is a document agreed upon by both sides. We think these are drafts," Tykhyi said.

George Tykhyi reminded that the documents were shared with the press and said, "In this sense, the public can make its own decision regarding these documents. When we look at Ukraine's document, it is very logical, very constructive, very doable. When we look at Russia's draft, it shows demands that are supported by ultimatums and trying to get maximum benefit. So I can say that both documents are very different from each other."

Stating that the basic principle for Ukraine is a ceasefire, Tykhyi said, "First, the guns must stop so that diplomats can talk. It is extremely simple. If there is a full-scale ceasefire, then diplomacy will be much more effective."

"We want to achieve peace"

Tykhyi stated that if Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to meet, he can immediately meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said, "Why do we insist on a meeting of leaders? Because there is one person in Russia who takes the decisions."

"Why is it so hard to sit down and talk? We do not understand this," Tykhyi said, noting that Zelenskiy is ready to meet.

George Tykhyi emphasized that Ukraine is the side that suffers the most from the war, "Civilians, military personnel are losing their lives and we want to achieve peace and we were not the side that wanted this war in the first place. Therefore, we will use every opportunity. Even the smallest one, we will use it to promote peace, to reach a just peace. That is why we are coming to this format, we are participating at the highest level."

Stating that they have achieved only humanitarian results with the peace negotiations format and that they have seen very little progress in the political sense, Tykhyi said, "The reason for this is this. There is only one reason. It is Russia's reluctance to make political progress in this sense, but we will continue this even for humanitarian developments."

Tykhyi pointed out that his country has no conditions for a ceasefire and said, "If Russia says 'we are ready for a ceasefire today', the ceasefire will start."

Stating that the Ukraine-US dialog continues, Tykhyi said, "President Zelenskiy and (US President Donald) Trump are in contact and there have been some important developments here. There have been positive signs from President Trump regarding Patriot missiles. We think that some of this is important for better defense of Ukraine."

Tykhyi pointed out that the pressure on Russia should continue and said, "We think that the more pressure on Moscow, the more constructive they will be."

At the meeting, the Russian side said, "We are advancing. Why should we cease fire?" Tykhyi said, "This is a very bitter statement and interrupts peace developments."

"We do not think that they have won the war," George Tykhyi said, adding that the Russian side has not achieved any of its strategic goals for two and a half years.

"We are grateful to President Erdogan"

Emphasizing that his country is fighting with a large army, Tykhyi said, "It is necessary to express once again the heroism of Ukrainian soldiers."

When asked about the "24 or 48-hour ceasefire proposals proposed by Russia" in the Russian press, Tykhyi said the following:

"These are not sincere ceasefire proposals. If we are talking about humanitarian breaks on the front line, we need to understand that this is something that happens from time to time. Local commanders mutually agree. They say let's take the bodies of our soldiers who lost their lives. These are not ceasefires, these are humanitarian breaks. For us, it is incomprehensible that the Russian side is trying to sell this as a ceasefire."

Tykhyi emphasized that a ceasefire means "a full-scale ceasefire on land, air and sea and a complete cessation of hostilities."

Speaking about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reception of Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, before the talks, Tykhyi said:

"We highly value President Erdogan's leadership, his strength, his support for the norms that we all share, and his role in different peace formats is really valuable. We remember how President Erdogan facilitated the Black Sea Grain Agreement. It was a really important work in the first year. It enabled maritime trade and the flow of grain. And now we see how much time he is devoting to the issue and to the peace process. We are very grateful to him."

Tykhyi thanked Turkey for the "Istanbul Peace Negotiations" and said, "Turkey has done something that no one else has done and we appreciate it very much."

"So far, 1,200 prisoners of war have been exchanged and this platform enables this," Tykhyi said, adding that agreements on further exchanges were also reached during the talks.

Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting ended

The Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting organized in Istanbul under Turkey's mediation between Russia and Ukraine ended.

The meeting, which was held at Çırağan Palace and chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, was also attended by İbrahim Kalın, Head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), and General Metin Gürak, Chief of General Staff.

The Russian delegation included Vladimir Medinskiy, Counselor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya attended the meeting on behalf of Ukraine.

Turkey succeeded in bringing the parties to the same table after 3 years

Immediately after the bloody war that started in February 2022, Turkey brought Russia and Ukraine together at the same table in Antalya and Istanbul in the same year, and in May 2025, again in Istanbul, Turkey managed to bring Russian and Ukrainian delegations to the same table after 3 years.

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2.