He recalled that Kyiv handed over his document to Moscow before meeting in Turkey, but it did not react to it either then or in Istanbul.
“During the meeting, our delegation asked the Russians what their considerations were. They did not provide anything. Neither during the meeting or after it,” Sibiga said.
The minister said that Ukraine requires an answer from the Russian Federation, and every day of silence from Moscow, according to him, indicates the desire of Russians to continue the war.
“Instead of responding to our constructive proposals in Istanbul, the Russian side put forward a number of old ultimatums that do not bring the situation to the present world. This contradicts the previous promises of Russia, in particular the United States, that it will offer something realistic and feasible this week in Istanbul,” the head of Ukrainian diplomacy recalled.
Sibiga explained that the Istanbul format has turned into meetings on the exchange of prisoners of war and he “welcomes progress in this area”, but the results would be in other areas if “the Russians reciprocated the constructiveness of Ukraine.”
The Foreign Minister emphasized that it was Russia that rejects any substantive ceasefire formats, and called it a “sufficient basis” for partners to introduce new sanctions against Russia now, and also emphasized the need to meet leaders, referring to the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and illegitimate Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine's Official Conclusions emphasizing the second term in Istanbul.
Russia will not be protected by our document covering Ukraine to enter the war. We Sent it Ahead of the Meeting. During the period of behavior, our delegations determined the Russians who were considerations.
– Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andriii_sybiha) June 3, 2025
Context
After the first round of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow in Istanbul, US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation with Putin on May 19. According to the results of the call, the head of the White House said that Ukraine and the Russian Federation “immediately” will begin negotiations on the end of the war. Putin said that Kyiv and Moscow are planning to prepare a document on a probable upcoming peace agreement. His spokeswoman Dmitry Peskov said that the deadlines for preparing this document “is not and cannot be.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov reported on May 23 that Russia would submit a draft document with its conditions for the ceasefire in Ukraine after completing the exchange of prisoners in the “1000 per 1000” format. The last stage of exchange was held on May 25.
On May 28, the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the delegation of the Russian Federation will not transfer to the United States of America a list of its conditions for the end of the war, which the Russian Federation unleashed in Ukraine.
Later, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umarov, who heads the delegation of Ukraine to participate in negotiations with the Russian Federation, transferred a document with the Ukrainian position to the head of the Russian delegation to Vladimir Medinsky.
Sibiga reacted to the statement of the Russian aggressor country about the readiness to present the Memorandum of the Crossing of Fire during the second round of peace negotiations on June 2, saying that he did not understand why to wait for Monday.
Russian “Memorandum”, the text of which on June 2 after negotiations in Istanbul was published by the Kremlin propagandists, Contains three chapters with two options for a ceasefire and 31 points. The document prescribes, in particular, a truce “for two to three days”, the requirements for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces from the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions; “International recognition” of these territories, as well as Crimea by Russian; a ban on the reception and placement of nuclear weapons in Ukraine; refusal of foreign military assistance, including reconnaissance data; The presidential elections and the Verkhovna Rada, which supposedly should take place no later than 100 days after the abolition of martial law.
