On May 15, 2025, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian delegation, which arrived in Istanbul for talks with Ukraine, had been expecting representatives of the Ukrainian side since the morning, but their arrival remained in question.

"We don't know whether Ukrainian negotiators will show up in Istanbul or not. The Russian delegation has been waiting for their counterparts from the Ukrainian side since the morning, but they are not here yet.", — he noted.

According to him, there are no specifics at the moment, including the start time of negotiations.

The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, and also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. The composition was approved by President Vladimir Putin on the evening of May 14. The talks proposed by Moscow are to take place in the office of the Turkish presidential administration in central Istanbul, where Russian-Ukrainian consultations were already held in March 2022.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha are in Ankara, where they are meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the Turkish Anadolu agency, the talks began at about 13:00 local time and were followed by a working dinner. Zelensky said that after discussions with Erdogan, Kyiv's further position on negotiations with Russia will become clear. He called the composition of the Russian delegation "sham", emphasizing that he is ready for direct negotiations only with Putin.