According to a report by Russian state propaganda agency TASS, Peskov explicitly said that Moscow no longer adheres to the “Istanbul principles,” adding they “do not reflect the situation.”
“Reality has changed,” he said.
The Kremlin kept reiterating its Istanbul demands at every turn, including during talks with the United States when U.S. President Donald Trump was eager to end the Russo–Ukrainian war on Moscow-favored terms.
TASS itself suggested Peskov’s comment may signal a shift in Russia’s negotiating stance. The propaganda agency noted that in June 2025 Russia circulated a memorandum of ultimatums for ending the war that repeated many of the terms first discussed in Istanbul in 2022.
The next round of trilateral Ukraine–U.S.–Russia talks was
supposed to take place on March 10–11, but was postponed on Washington’s
request, given the administration’s preoccupation with the war in the Middle
East.