GENEVA, May 16. /TASS/. There will be no progress in talks on Ukraine until Western countries admit they provoked the Ukrainian conflict, that its true cause was NATO expansion, said American international lawyer, former independent expert for the UN Human Rights Council Alfred de Zayas.

"No progress can be made on the Ukraine dossier until the West admits that it provoked the conflict and prevented an early solution," he wrote on X.

According to the expert, as long as the West refuses to admit that the reason for the conflict was NATO expansion, no real negotiations should be expected.

On May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Kiev to resume direct negotiations without preconditions, interrupted in 2022. He proposed to start the dialogue on May 15 in Istanbul. Zelensky said he will come to Istanbul on May 15.

The Russian delegation at the talks comprise Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, 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.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg all traveled to Istanbul as the US delegation.