Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on Saturday for Russia and Ukraine to freeze the conflict and return to peace talks, saying a negotiated settlement remained possible despite the entrenched positions of both sides.
Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Russia-Kazakhstan forum in the Siberian city of Omsk, Tokayev said it was time to revive what he called the "Istanbul formula 2.0" after being asked for his views on the war.
"Perhaps it is time to freeze this conflict and return to the 'Istanbul formula 2.0'," Tokayev said, adding that fresh negotiations, backed by security guarantees from major powers including Russia, could help pave the way towards "a long-awaited peace".
He said the continued loss of young lives on both sides made ending the fighting increasingly urgent.
Russia and Ukraine held talks in Istanbul in the early weeks of Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022 and met there again in 2025, but neither round produced a breakthrough.
Putin did not respond publicly to Tokayev's proposal during the meeting, saying only that he would discuss Ukraine in greater detail during their private talks.
Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had briefed Tokayev on Russia's military campaign and reiterated Moscow's position that the conflict could not simply be frozen under the current circumstances.
According to Peskov, Putin said military action could stop if Kyiv took what Russia considers the necessary decisions.
Putin said last month that Russia's conditions for a peace settlement remained unchanged, including Ukraine withdrawing from the four regions Moscow claims as its own and abandoning its bid to join NATO.
Kyiv has repeatedly rejected those demands, saying any peace agreement must respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing to deploy additional North Korean forces on its territory and has received more ballistic missiles from Pyongyang, arguing that their growing military cooperation poses a threat beyond Ukraine.
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Ukraine has agreed to refrain from targeting certain tankers using Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk following a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported, although Kyiv has continued strikes on Russian targets at the port.
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