Need of the Hour

The first direct parleys between Russia and Ukraine in three years should have been a watershed moment in the ongoing war between the two countries. But, it took less than two hours in Istanbul on 16 May to become crystal clear that the direct negotiations were nothing but a failure. However, such an outcome was expected even though the two sides managed to reach an agreement to exchange 2,000 prisoners.

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As it turned out, for Russian President Vladimir Putin the negotiations were a dilatory or even an avoidance tactic. His objective is not difficult to understand as he came under renewed pressure after a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire had been put forward at a summit in Kyiv where key European leaders gathered with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to support Ukraine. Zelenskyy too had openly been snubbed by US President Trump and hence did not risk provoking the latter further. He decided to come to Turkey, while throwing, at the same time, a challenge to Putin to attend the talks. What was more, Trump himself had not ruled out that he might come and join the two Presidents, squeezing out time from his diplomatic tour of the Arabian Peninsula, should such a summit materialize.