Steve Witkoff, Trump’s top negotiator, said the U.S. would be looking to talks from early in the war as a basis for a deal. Ukraine’s supporters saw it as an embrace of a Kremlin talking point.

Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the United States has not officially proposed that Ukraine return to the so-called "Istanbul agreements" for a "peaceful settlement" of the war.

US officials will meet with their Russian counterparts in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Thursday, 27 February, to discuss embassy operations, though the issue of Ukraine will not be tackled. Source: Reuters,

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington to sign a dictated agreement that only "partially" includes security guarantees for Ukraine, Donald Trump shut the door on Kyiv’s NATO aspirations.

Russian and U.S. diplomats have held talks in Istanbul to discuss ways to normalize the operation of their embassies after diplomatic expulsions.

Putin has often said the 2022 peace negotiations in Istanbul could serve as a framework for peace talks with Ukraine.

Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions, seen as a step towards ending the war in Ukraine, both sides said on Wednesday.

Kyiv signing the Istanbul communique may have quickly stopped the war and the killing. But the Kremlin has repeatedly shown it cannot be trusted to adhere to agreements – you only have to look at the way it repeatedly violated the Minsk accords of 2015, which attempted to end hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

The top figure in Eastern Orthodox Christianity on Sunday has said “Ukraine’s sovereignty is not up for debate, nor can it be negotiated under the guise of diplomacy,” as he celebrated Mass in Istanbu

While the scope of the talks is narrow and will not include Ukraine, they will provide a test of both sides' seriousness about repairing their relations and working to end the war. The meeting follows a phone call between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on Feb.

Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters A suggestion by the Trump administration’s top negotiator that a Ukraine peace deal would be based on talks conducted in Istanbul nearly three years ago has buoyed ...