The talks between Ukraine and Russia, held for the first time in 3 years and 2 months at the presidential palace in Istanbul, Turkey, ended just 2 hours after they began.
According to Reuters on the 16th (local time), the mediating country, Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that the meeting between the two countries has concluded. The Ukrainian delegation included top-level officials such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defense, and the head of the Presidential Secretariat, while Russia was represented by a Vice Minister-level presidential advisor and a Vice Minister of Defense.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The two countries held face-to-face meetings in Poland, Belarus, and other locations starting a week later, but the highest-level direct dialogue took place a month after the invasion, on March 29, at the presidential palace in Istanbul, and that was the end of it.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Istanbul on the day of the Ukraine-Russia talks and met with the Ukrainian delegation, but did not participate in the discussions. Secretary Rubio departed for home on a private jet before the talks concluded. Rubio noted the day before, "I regret to say that there is almost no possibility for a breakthrough at tomorrow's meeting between the two countries," adding that "Only President Trump can open the way."
Turkey's Hakan Fidan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs who mediated the talks that day, also stated on-site that the meeting between the two delegations was a working-level meeting of a technical nature.