The resumption of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul – the first such engagement in over three years – offers a rare and fragile opportunity for peace amid a brutal war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. These talks, cautiously welcomed by both parties, are not yet historic breakthroughs. But they are not meaningless either. In fact, they may represent a last off-ramp from a widening and increasingly unsustainable conflict.

What makes Istanbul Talks 2.0 particularly significant is not what happened during the initial two-hour session, but the context surrounding it: who initiated them, how they were received, and the mindset of the participants – especially Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Western sponsors. Despite all the spin, it was the Kremlin – not Kiev, and certainly not Washington or Brussels – that pushed for these talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume discussions “where they were held earlier and where they were interrupted,” a clear nod to the original Istanbul negotiations of spring 2022.

Back then, a peace deal was reportedly within reach. As David Arakhamia, head of Ukraine’s negotiating team in 2022, later admitted, Russia had proposed what many now see as a favorable offer: Ukrainian neutrality, no NATO membership, and otherwise little more than “cosmetic political seasoning.” Yet the deal collapsed not because of Russian intransigence, but due to pressure from the West. According to Arakhamia, it was the United States and United Kingdom that stepped in, urging Ukraine to reject the deal and fight on. The consequences of that fateful decision are now plain to see: lost territory, hundreds of thousands dead and wounded, a crippled economy, and a grinding war with no military solution in sight.

That is what........

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