Success of Russia-Ukraine Direct Talks Depends on Eliminating Conflict Root Causes, FM Says
12:03 27.05.2025 (Updated: 14:50 27.05.2025)
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The success of the peace talks on Ukraine directly depends on whether the root causes of the conflict can be eliminated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"We are grateful for Turkey's willingness to continue to facilitate such negotiations and a generally peaceful settlement... The success of the negotiations will directly depend on whether we can eliminate the root causes of the conflict during these negotiations, which are well known," Lavrov told a joint press conference following talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
The details of the prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States are being coordinated through the competent authorities, the foreign minister said.
"Our presidents agreed during a telephone conversation to prepare an exchange of prisoners between the United States and Russia, the details, for obvious reasons, are being coordinated through the relevant competent authorities," he explained.
Speaking of the international issues, Lavrov disclosed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Fidan discussed the Ukrainian crisis at a meeting on May 26.
"Yesterday, at a meeting with President Putin, we discussed the Ukrainian situation, primarily in the context of assessments of the direct Russian-Ukrainian talks that took place in Istanbul on May 16, and which were initiated after a conversation between President Putin and President [of the United States Donald] Trump and supported by President [of Turkey Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and my a colleague [Fidan]," Lavrov told a joint press conference.
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/ Moscow is grateful for Turkey's willingness to continue to assist negotiations and a peaceful settlement in general, Lavrov added.
Russia considers holding the second round of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, he went on to say.
"As for the second round of Russia-Ukraine talks, if you ask me, I would again turn to our Turkish friends. It is very good in Istanbul," Lavrov stressed.
Lavrov on Paris Stating Absence of Military in Ukraine: France Fights on Ukraine Territory
"France is fighting against Russia because its long-range missiles are used by the Nazi regime in Kiev to attack the territory of Russia, mainly civilian targets," Lavrov told a press conference, commenting on French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot's statement that Paris allegedly "is not fighting against the Russian people," but assists the Ukrainian forces.
Moreover, US President Donald Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine is fueled by his frustration with a group of European officials sabotaging his efforts to resolve the situation in Ukraine, the Russian top diplomat noted.
"When he [Trump] sees that a group of European representatives are beginning to sabotage his efforts [to establish peace], pushing Ukraine to reckless actions, including drone attacks on Moscow, our other cities, and attacks on the helicopter of the Russian president, of course, he may show certain emotions. And, of course, as a person who does not like obstacles on the path to achieving noble goals, he has certain assessments, certain rhetoric," Lavrov said.
Turkey Always Ready to Host Talks on Ukraine, Considers It Mission for Region
"We have always expressed our readiness to receive guests. This is a mission for peace in the entire region ... We continue to work on the concrete implementation of the will put forward by the two leaders at the ministerial level," Fidan said.
Fidan said on Tuesday that during his contacts in Moscow, the parties were able to discuss in detail issues on the bilateral and regional agenda.
"During the talks, we managed to discuss in detail a wide range of issues on the bilateral and regional agenda. This is a broad agenda," Fidan told reporters.
Ankara hopes that the dialogue between Russia and Ukraine will be successful and will lead to a lasting peace, he added.
"The Russian-Ukrainian war was, of course, an important part of my talks in Moscow. By sending an authorized delegation to Istanbul, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin allowed for a positive outcome to the talks. We are pleased that the exchange agreed to at them was finalized this past weekend. We are also hopeful that the talks will quickly develop into a ceasefire and then a lasting peace," Fidan said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that Moscow is determined to advance joint projects despite attempts to slow them down, Lavrov said.
"Yesterday, President Putin very clearly confirmed during a meeting in the Kremlin with Fidan our determination to advance a positive agenda, to advance practical cooperation projects, and they are quite large-scale, despite attempts to obstruct our legitimate rights ... to develop such cooperation," Lavrov told reporters following talks with Fidan.
Additionally, Ankara and Moscow are working on commissioning the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP), the minister said.
