Delegations for peace talks between Russia, Ukraine in Istanbul determined

KYIV, Ukraine/ISTANBUL

The delegations that will continue peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Türkiye, have been determined on Friday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a US delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Ukrainian delegation headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and a Russian delegation headed by President Vladimir Putin's advisor, Vladimir Medinsky, will be taking part.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree forming an official delegation to participate in the peace negotiations.

Scheduled to meet with Turkish, Russian, and US officials, it will be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

It will include Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Head of the Security Service (SBU) Oleksandr Poklad, Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Luhovskyi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Oleksii Shevchenko, Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of the Headquarters of the Air Force Command Yevhenii Shynkarev, Deputy Head of the Headquarters of the Naval Forces Command Oleksandr Dyakov, Head of the Department of International and Operational Law of the Central Legal Department of the General Staff Oleksii Malovatskyi, Senior Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff Oleksandr Sherikhov, Protocol Officer of the Support Unit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Heorhii Kuzmychev, and Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President Oleksandr Bevz.

The Russian delegation, headed by Vladimir Medinsky, will include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Director Igor Kostyukov and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin.

The list of experts in the delegation includes Deputy Director of the Information Department of the Russian General Staff Aleksandr Zorin and Deputy Director of the State Policy Department of the Russian President for the Humanitarian Field Yevgeniya Podobreyevskaya as well as Director of the Second Department of the Commonwealth of Independent States Countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry Aleksandr Polishchyuk and the Deputy Director of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense Vladimir Shevtsov.