Star Metro - Russia, Ukraine to meet for first talks since 2022

Kyiv is seeking an "unconditional ceasefire" at the talks, while Moscow says it wants to address the "root causes" of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine.

Expectations of a breakthrough are slim, with the two sides having spent the last 24 hours slinging insults at each other and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of not being "serious" about peace.

A source at Turkey's foreign ministry had initially said the Russia-Ukraine talks would begin at 0930 GMT, although other officials said the exact timings appeared to be in flux.

Despite low expectations, the fact the meeting is taking place at all is a sign of movement, with both sides having come under intense pressure from Washington to open talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to travel to Turkey for the talks -- which he had proposed -- sending a second-level delegation instead.

Zelensky went to Ankara on Thursday and has repeated that he was "ready" to meet with Putin. But he criticised Russia for despatching people who he said had no power to make decisions.

US President Donald Trump, who initially said he would come to Turkey if Putin turned up or if progress was made, said he would head back to Washington from Abu Dhabi.

Trump has said only a meeting between him and Putin could lead to a breakthrough, saying Friday that "as soon as we can set it up I would actually leave here and go."

- 'Unconditional ceasefire' -

"Ukraine is ready for peace and a long-term and unconditional ceasefire," Zelensky's top aid Andriy Yermak said after meeting European security officials and US special envoy Keith Kellogg.

"The Ukrainian delegation is in Istanbul today to achieve an unconditional ceasefire -- this is our priority," he added.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source in Istanbul told AFP the delegation also wanted to discuss a possible Putin-Zelensky meeting.

Ukrainian officials earlier met with European security representatives in Istanbul as well as US Secretary Marco Rubio.

Western leaders have criticised Putin for skipping the talks and sending his aide -- a former cultural minister who is not seen as a key Kremlin decision-maker -- Vladimir Medinsky.

Rubio acknowledged that the Russian representation was "not at the levels we had hoped it would be at" and downplayed expectations for a breakthrough.

"Putin sent to Istanbul those who have no fundamental decision-making power," a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on Friday, ahead of the start of the talks.

- 'Points of contact' -

Russia's Medinsky led the failed 2022 talks with Ukraine at the start of the war, held right after Ukrainian forces pushed the Russian army away from Kyiv.

He said Thursday that Moscow sees the talks as a "continuation" of talks that failed in 2022 -- a sign that Moscow's hardline demands have not changed.

But Medinsky pushed back against Zelensky's criticism and insisted that the Russian delegation has a mandate from Putin to "to find possible solutions and points of contact."

Russia has repeatedly said it will not discuss giving up any territory that its forces occupy.

Kyiv's chief negotiator is Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who has roots in Crimea, the peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.

Zelensky said he decided to send Umerov despite the fact that his Russian counterpart will not be there.

As the talks were about to get underway, Russia's defence minister Andrei Belousov met Moscow's key ally Belarusian President Alexander Lukasheko on a visit to Minsk.

- 'Avoiding peace'

Kyiv and Moscow last held direct talks in March 2022, in the first weeks of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The talks collapsed and fighting has raged since, with Moscow now occupying around a fifth of Ukraine.

Russia continued its attacks in the hours ahead of the talks, with Kyiv saying at least two people were killed.

European leaders slammed Putin for skipping the Istanbul talks.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas charged Friday that Russia was "clearly" not working for peace with Ukraine.

And NATO chief Mark Rutte said Putin had made a "big mistake" by sending a lower-rank Russian delegation to Istanbul.

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A.Harris--SMC