On the 16th, Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face talks in Turkey since the comprehensive war broke out three years ago, which lasted less than two hours. Although the two sides reached an agreement on a exchange of thousands of prisoners, no substantive progress was made. The head of the Russian delegation, Medinsky, even threatened that Russia is prepared to launch a long-term war against Ukraine.
According to the 'Ukrainian Truth', the 'Economist' columnist Karol cited informed sources on the social platform 'X', saying that during the talks, Medinsky stated: 'We do not want war, but we are ready to fight for 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, as long as it takes. We once fought Sweden for 21 years; how long are you prepared to fight?'
Medinsky then told the Ukrainian representatives: 'Perhaps more people present here will lose family members, but Russia is ready to fight to the end.'
Sources also told Karol that the Russian side stated they would agree to a ceasefire, but 'the premise is that Ukraine withdraws from the four 'annexed' regions that Russia has not even completely controlled, and Moscow also threatens to occupy two more regions, Sumy and Kharkiv.'
The Washington Post reported that after the meeting, Medinsky told state television in an interview that the reason he mentioned the 'Great Northern War' of 1700 is to prove that even if Western leaders push for extended sanctions, unless the Russian conditions are met, Moscow is prepared to fight a long-term war.