The Russian side did everything possible to push the United States out of the negotiation platform in Istanbul — and they succeeded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a briefing. According to him,

The second round of negotiations to resolve Europe’s largest land war since World War II ended with even less of an outcome than the first round.

It restated Moscow's demands that Ukraine become a neutral country - ruling out membership of NATO - and that it protect the rights of Russian speakers, make Russian an official language and enact a legal ban on glorification of Nazism. Ukraine rejects the Nazi charge as absurd and denies discriminating against Russian speakers.