The Kremlin is insisting on the 2022 Istanbul format for negotiations as a way to buy time and blame Kyiv for the stalling of current peace talks, while planning to repeat an invasion under more favorable conditions in the future,

EADaily, August 19th, 2025. Russia and Ukraine is likely to continue direct negotiations in Istanbul, at which the status of representatives of the parties may be increased.

Russia's top negotiator in Istanbul will be Vladimir Medinsky, an ideological Putin aide who led failed talks in 2022, has written school textbooks justifying the invasion and has questioned ...

The return of the forcefully deported Ukrainian children “is a subject at the top of all lists,” Donald Trump said, adding that the US and Europe will work together with Ukraine and the rest of the world “to hopefully bringing them home to their families".

The Kremlin is likely to use today's summit in Alaska to try to divert U.S. attention away from peace talks with Ukraine and onto U.S.-Russian relations. In this way, Putin and the Russian delegation will push the Trump administration to push Moscow's much-needed economic relations.