Ukraine urges allies to maintain pressure on Russia as talks result in no ceasefire.

Ukraine sought backing from its Western allies on Friday after Kyiv and Moscow could not reach a ceasefire in their first direct discussions in over three years, as Russia put forth terms that a Ukrainian source called “non-starters.”

Faced with pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to conclude the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, representatives from the battling nations convened for the first time since March 2022, the month following Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.

Discussions at a palace in Istanbul took under two hours. Russia conveyed pleasure with the meeting and stated it was prepared to maintain communication. Both nations announced they had consented to trade 1,000 prisoners of war each shortly, in what would be the largest exchange of its kind to date.

However, Kyiv, seeking stricter sanctions from the West against Moscow unless President Vladimir Putin agrees to a Trump-led proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, promptly started mobilizing its allies for stronger measures.

Immediately after the discussions concluded, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on X that he had conversed by phone with Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, and Poland.

“Ukraine is ready to take the fastest possible steps to bring real peace, and it is important that the world holds a strong stance,” Zelenskiy said. He called for “tough sanctions” if Russia rejects a full and unconditional ceasefire.

Russia – which is slowly but steadily advancing on the battlefield and is worried that Ukraine will use such a pause to regroup and re-arm – has said it needs to nail down the terms of a ceasefire before signing up to one.

“We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire and spell it out in detail,” Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, told reporters after the meeting. “After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations.”