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Zelensky changes composition of Ukraine’s delegation to Istanbul talks

The delegation will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has introduced changes in the Ukrainian delegation to the second round of talks with Russian due to be held on June 2 in Istanbul, according to a relevant decree posted on his website.

Thus, this time Head of the Department of Intergovernmental Relations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Alexey Malovatsky will not go to Istanbul. The delegation will include three new members, namely Yury Kovbasa, an envoy of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) human rights ombudsperson in the system of defense and security sector bodies, Yevgeny Ostryansky, a Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Andrey Fomin, chief of the international law department and deputy chief of the international and operational law directorate of the Ukrainian General Staff’s Central Legal Directorate.

Other members of the delegation will remain the same. The delegation will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Umerov said earlier that Kiev is not "against" meeting with the Russian side, but first it wants Moscow to share its memorandum. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov slammed this demand as counterproductive, adding that the most essential thing now is to continue the process of direct talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced earlier that the second round of the Istanbul talks with Ukraine was set for June 2. The top diplomat said that the Russian delegation’s head, Vladimir Medinsky, would deliver Moscow’s memorandum on all aspects of overcoming the underlying causes of the crisis over to Ukraine. According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russia would send the same negotiating team to Istanbul on June 2 as it dispatched on May 16.

The previous round of talks was held on May 16, resulting in agreements on a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap and an exchange of documents on a potential ceasefire. Both parties expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting.

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