‘We’re prepared to fight forever. How about you?’. Moscow opens first direct talks with Ukraine in three years by threatening endless war and new land grabs

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Members of the Russian delegation at the talks in Istanbul. Second from the right: presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, heading the team. May 16, 2025.

Friday’s talks in Istanbul were the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since March 2022.

The negotiators convened at Turkey’s Dolmabahçe Presidential Palace. The first round of discussions lasted two hours. The Russian delegation is led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov leads the Ukrainian delegation, which includes 10 additional members, including First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Security Service Oleksandr Poklad, and military intelligence deputy chief Vadym Skibitsky. Medinsky said the two sides will resume talks after each outlines its vision for a possible ceasefire. A date for the next meeting has not yet been set.

Sources told journalist Oliver Carroll that Medinsky warned during the talks that Russia is “prepared to fight forever.”

“We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?” Medinsky reportedly told the Ukrainian delegation — a reference to the Great Northern War (1700–1721), which ended with Russia becoming an empire and Sweden losing its status as a major European power.

Carroll’s sources say that Russian negotiators also threatened to seize Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

The Economist correspondent cited a “well-placed source” who said Moscow threatened to annex two more Ukrainian regions if Kyiv refuses to withdraw from the four regions Russia annexed in September 2022, which it still only partially controls. On his Telegram channel, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko also said that the Russian delegation rejected Kyiv’s 30-day ceasefire proposal and threatened to annex the Sumy region.

The only agreement reached during the talks was another prisoner exchange: 1,000 Russian POWs for 1,000 Ukrainian POWs.

If carried out, it would be the largest such swap since the war began. Officials haven’t announced a date for the exchange, but Medinsky said it could happen “in the coming days.” He also said the Russian delegation had “taken note” of Ukraine’s request for direct talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky is calling on Ukraine’s allies to impose tougher sanctions against Russia if Moscow rejects an unconditional ceasefire.

The Ukrainian president met with European leaders in Albania on Friday. The group also held a call with Donald Trump. Zelensky told reporters: “Pressure on Russia must be maintained until it is ready to end the war.” Neither the U.S. president nor his Russian counterpart has publicly commented on the talks yet. In comments to the press, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Moscow’s position “unacceptable” and reiterated Europe’s promise to impose new sanctions.