The United Nations Security Council is convening a meeting on May 29 at Ukraine’s request. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that the key topic of the meeting will be finding ways to achieve a ceasefire following the recent mass Russian attacks that have resulted in civilian casualties.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Expectations from the International Community
The Ukrainian side insists that partners must make decisive statements in support of a broad consensus to compel Russia to fully cease fire. According to Sybiha, this should serve as the foundation for launching a genuine peace process. He also emphasized that Ukraine remains committed to peace initiatives alongside the United States and European partners.
“Following the recent Russian attacks that have led to civilian casualties, we expect decisive statements from our partners that will reaffirm a broad international consensus on the necessity of forcing Russia to accept a complete ceasefire as the basis for a substantive peace process,” Sybiha wrote on social media platform X.
Details of Negotiations and Positions of the Parties
On the eve of the meeting, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Russia to provide Ukraine with its draft memorandum outlining the proposed conditions for a ceasefire. This was in response to a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the completion of work on the relevant document and the proposal to hold a second round of negotiations in Istanbul on June 2.
According to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Ukraine has already submitted its own document regarding the ceasefire to the Russian side. In response, the Kremlin labeled Kyiv’s initiative as “unconstructive” and refused to disclose the conditions they plan to propose in their memorandum, emphasizing the need for a closed format for negotiations.
The previous round of talks between Ukraine and Russia took place on May 16 in Istanbul, but the parties did not achieve significant progress. However, they agreed on a prisoner exchange in the format of “one thousand for one thousand,” the last stage of which was completed on May 25. These were the first negotiations between the parties in the last three years. Ukraine insisted on a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia continues to hold onto its territorial claims. Moscow demands recognition of sovereignty over four Ukrainian regions that it does not fully control as a condition for starting discussions on halting hostilities.