This has been a fascinating week in many respects, with high hopes for a Russia-Ukraine deal to end the war, a businesslike and successful official Gulf visit by the US president and the long-awaited lifting of sanctions on Syria.
Russians, Ukrainians and Americans came to Istanbul, and on 16 May, talks were held in two different trilateral formats, US-Ukraine-Türkiye and Russia-Ukraine-Türkiye.
The US delegation was headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov headed the Ukrainian delegation, and the Russian delegation was headed by Vladimir Medinskiy, one of Putin's advisors. The leading figure on the Turkish side is the foreign minister. It is the first time since 2022 that the two combatant states have come face to face in a diplomatic setting.
At the end of the day, a hopeful Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who chaired and facilitated the meetings, announced on his social media account that the parties had agreed to exchange 1,000 war prisoners from each other, that they had decided to share with the other side in writing their ideas on the conditions that would make it possible to reach a ceasefire, and that they had agreed in principle to meet again.
TASS said that the Ukrainian delegation requested direct talks between the leaders of the two nations, and the Russian side took account of this request. There was no quadruple meeting —the US, Russia, Ukraine and Türkiye—this time, but it can be argued that it was a positive step in the right direction.
Trump had told reporters while touring the region that “nothing will happen unless Putin and I get together." That was an accurate statement, as even though negotiators in the Istanbul meetings have discussed their positions and conditions, the key to success lies with these two leaders.
Progress on multiple fronts
Despite his unconventional style of politics and often crude and threatening manners, Trump is making progress on different diplomatic fronts. He said repeatedly during the presidential campaign that he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours upon taking office.