The second round of Russia–Ukraine peace talks, hosted by Türkiye at Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace, has concluded. The high-level meeting, chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and attended by Türkiye’s Chief of General Staff Metin Gürak and MIT Director İbrahim Kalın, drew global attention.

Delegations included senior Russian officials such as Vice President Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin, and GRU Chief Igor Kostyukov. The Ukrainian side was represented by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, and top intelligence officials.

Ukrainian Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak said the Ukrainian delegation handed the Russians a list of children to be returned. “These are hundreds of children that Russia has illegally deported, forcibly displaced, or temporarily held in occupied territories,” Yermak stated.

The meeting, which began at 15:00, lasted approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. MIT Director Kalın was seen leaving afterward, marking the end of the session. Russian media confirmed that a third round of talks is planned.

This was the second face-to-face meeting since May 16, 2024, when both sides resumed direct negotiations for the first time since 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in Vilnius, said, “Documents are being exchanged through the mediation of the Turkish side, and we are making new preparations for the release of prisoners of war.”