Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister says Russians tried to intimidate Ukraine in Istanbul
Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya (Photo: Getty Images)
The Russian delegation at the negotiations in Istanbul likely tried to exert psychological pressure on the Ukrainian side. However, such tactics only strengthened the determination to resist the aggressor, states Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister, Serhiy Kyslytsya.
Kyslytsya suggested that the Russian delegation may have tried to intimidate him personally during the meeting in Istanbul.
"Whoever in our delegation was targeted by this “intimidation” tactics - I or possibly others, or all of us - it didn’t work. In fact it has had an absolutely opposite effect," wrote the First Deputy Foreign Minister.
He emphasized that such a tactic only strengthened Ukraine’s determination to stop the evil that boasts about killing and is determined to continue murdering our defenseless citizens.
Kyslytsya also shared a photo of his late nephew Max, who was 23 years old.
“Max was 23 y.o. and will stay young in our memories for ever,” he added.
Earlier, the First Deputy Foreign Minister had shared that his nephew was killed in the summer of 2022 on the front line near Sievierodonetsk. On that very day, Kyslytsya was listening to a speech by Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya.
Yesterday, a quote from the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, appeared in the press: “Maybe some of those sitting here at this table will lose more of their loved ones. Russia is prepared to fight forever.”
It should also be recalled that during the negotiations in Istanbul, the Russian delegation threatened to seize two more regions of Ukraine.
More details on how the negotiations in Istanbul unfolded can be found in the article by RBC-Ukraine.
Negotiations in Istanbul
Yesterday, on May 16, the first talks in the past 3.5 years between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place in Istanbul.
As later became known, the meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations lasted a little over an hour. They did not achieve any significant progress toward reaching peace.
