The delegations that will continue peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Türkiye on Friday have been determined.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a US delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Ukrainian delegation headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and a Russian delegation headed by President Vladimir Putin's adviser Vladimir Medinsky will be taking part.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree forming an official delegation to participate in the peace negotiations. Scheduled to meet with Turkish, Russian and US officials, it will be headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
It will include Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Head of the Security Service (SBU) Oleksandr Poklad, Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Luhovskyi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Oleksii Shevchenko, Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defence Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of the Headquarters of the Air Force Command Yevhenii Shynkarev, Deputy Head of the Headquarters of the Naval Forces Command Oleksandr Dyakov, Head of the Department of International and Operational Law of the Central Legal Department of the General Staff Oleksii Malovatskyi, Senior Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff Oleksandr Sherikhov, Protocol Officer of the Support Unit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Heorhii Kuzmychev, and Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President Oleksandr Bevz.
On Friday, negotiations are expected involving delegations from Russia, Ukraine, US and Türkiye, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources say.
The Russian delegation, headed by Vladimir Medinsky, will include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Director Igor Kostyukov and Russian Deputy Defence Minister Aleksandr Fomin.
The list of experts in the delegation includes Deputy Director of the Information Department of the Russian General Staff Aleksandr Zorin and Deputy Director of the State Policy Department of the Russian President for the Humanitarian Field Yevgeniya Podobreyevskaya as well as Director of the Second Department of the Commonwealth of Independent States Countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry Aleksandr Polishchyuk and the Deputy Director of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defence Vladimir Shevtsov.
'The end of this war will bring significant economic and trade benefits to Türkiye and the region, and the peace talks led by Türkiye will bring a new forward momentum to the world,' says the Turkish deputy trade minister.
