Russia's Chargé d'Affaires in Turkey, Alexei Ivanov, stated that Moscow is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine in a format similar to the 2022 Istanbul Round, but Kyiv has not responded to previous proposals to resume dialogue.

"We are ready to return to negotiations as they were in Istanbul, but we have not yet received any response from the Ukrainian side to our proposals," Ivanov noted. He added that Russia conveyed its position to the United States through an informal memorandum (non-paper), in which it again insists on control over Donbas and the fulfillment of the conditions for demilitarization and denazification.

Kyiv has previously repeatedly rejected Russian demands, including demilitarization, denazification, and recognition of new territories within the Russian Federation. In October 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared such conditions tantamount to capitulation and proposed his own peace plan, including troop withdrawal and NATO guarantees. Kyiv has not yet commented on Ivanov's latest statements.

Turkey, which acted as mediator in 2022, expressed its willingness to facilitate the negotiations but emphasized the need for mutual commitment from both sides. Talks in Istanbul in March 2022 collapsed due to disagreements over Ukraine's territory and status.