On May 15, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine approved a new team for negotiations with Russia in Istanbul, aimed at achieving a lasting peace.
This information is presented in decree No. 306/2025, published on the President's Office website.
The delegation will be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and will also include:
- Serhiy Kyslytsya – First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs;
- Oleksandr Poklad – Deputy Head of the Security Service;
- Oleg Luhovskyi – First Deputy Head of Foreign Intelligence;
- Olexiy Shevchenko – Deputy Chief of the General Staff;
- Vadym Skibitskyi – Deputy Head of Military Intelligence;
- Yevhen Shinkarov – Deputy Chief of the Air Force Command;
- Oleksandr Diakov – Deputy Chief of the Naval Forces Command;
- Olexiy Malovatskyi – Head of the International Law Department;
- Oleksandr Sherikhov – Senior Officer of the Main Operational Directorate;
- Georgiy Kuzmychov – Protocol Officer;
- Oleksandr Bevz – Advisor to the Head of the President's Office.
The decree also allows the head of the delegation to make changes to its composition with the president's consent and approves confidential negotiation directives.
It should be noted that President Zelensky has traveled to Ankara in anticipation of Vladimir Putin's arrival.
However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin will not go to Istanbul for talks with the Ukrainian delegation. Instead, Russia sent a lower-level delegation led by Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky.
In light of this, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sees no chances for a breakthrough in negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul.
