Ukraine will participate in negotiations with Russia in Istanbul. The Ukrainian delegation will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this during press conference.
Zelensky stressed that the delegation that Russia sent to the talks in Istanbul shows that Moscow is very unserious about real dialogue. The delegation did not include those high-ranking officials of the aggressor country who actually make decisions.
"Despite the rather low level of the Russian delegation, out of respect for President Trump, out of respect for the high level of the Turkish delegation and President Erdogan, and wanting to try to achieve at least the first steps towards de-escalation and the end of the war (ceasefire), I decided to send our delegation to Istanbul, but not all of it," - said the president.
He clarified that the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasyl Malyuk and the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Hnatov will not attend the negotiations.
"But the delegation will be led by the Ukrainian Defense Minister, despite the fact that there will be no counterpart from the Russian side there," the president added.
He explained this decision by saying that the meeting should be held in a format with Turkish, American, Ukrainian and Russian presence. Umerov is a member of the negotiators and is also fluent in Turkish, English, Russian and Ukrainian.
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