The US has requested someone less tough than Medinsky as a negotiator - Bloomberg

Officials told their Russian colleagues that in further negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, they would prefer to deal not with such hardliners as presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who headed the Russian delegation to Istanbul. This is reported by Bloomberg.

"The leaders of the United States and Europe pin their hopes on the fact that the Vatican will attract Russia and Ukraine is ready for peace talks after President Donald Trump said that Pope Leo XIV had shown interest in this idea. The Kremlin is not so interested in this. Russian officials do not plan that President Vladimir Putin will go to The Vatican or anywhere else for negotiations, and instead they are focused on technical-level negotiations that began in Istanbul last week, according to people familiar with the situation.… The Kremlin expects these talks to resume in Istanbul, one of the sources said," the agency reports.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, it is "not very realistic" for the Vatican to host negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

"It is a little awkward for Orthodox countries to discuss issues related to the elimination of the root causes (of the conflict) on the Catholic platform," Lavrov said at a press conference today.

However, European officials say that discussions are underway about the role of the Vatican as a potential host of the site or mediator in the negotiations. The meeting could take place as early as next week if Russia expresses its readiness to take part in it, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

"U.S. officials are in contact with the Ukrainians to ensure the possibility of negotiations, the sources said. They are also signaling to their Russian counterparts that they would prefer to avoid participation in the meeting of hardliners, such as Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky, who headed Moscow's delegation in Istanbul, the sources added, "the publication says.