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Zelensky orders to set up permanent team of negotiators for talks with Russia

While Zelensky did not disclose the names on the expanded team, he said Kiev was ready for direct contacts with Moscow

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has ordered to form a permanent expanded delegation for talks with Russia.

"I have instructed to form a permanent expanded national negotiating group," Zelensky wrote on Telegram after hearing a report from Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov who led the Ukrainian delegation at a meeting with Russian negotiators in Istanbul on Friday.

While Zelensky did not disclose the names on the expanded team, he said Kiev was ready for direct contacts with Moscow. "Also, we are ready for a leaders’ summit on resolving key issues," he added.

Apart from Umerov, representing Ukraine at the talks were First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa, Deputy Chairman of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) Alexander Poklad, First Deputy Chair of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU) Oleg Lugovskoy, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexey Shevchenko, and Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Vadim Skibitsky, among other senior officials.

On May 16, Istanbul hosted negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, their first since 2022. As a result, Moscow and Kiev agreed to swap 1,000 POWs from each side, outline their vision of a ceasefire in detail, and continue the negotiation process. Russia’s chief negotiator, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, shared that the Russian side was satisfied with the outcome. Also, he said, Ukraine requested direct talks between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, an issue Russia "has taken note of."

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