Heads of Russian and Ukrainian delegations met privately for 2.5 hours on Monday before official negotiations resumed
Source: Meduza
The heads of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, held a private meeting before the start of official negotiations in Istanbul on Monday. Speaking on Russian state television, Medinsky said his meeting with Ukraine's defense minister “played an important role in preparing for the general negotiation session.”
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the Medinsky–Umerov meeting lasted 2.5 hours — more than twice as long as the formal negotiations between delegations.