Russia has proposed holding a new round of direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Wednesday. The Kremlin’s proposal follows a previous meeting in Istanbul on May 16 — the first direct contact since March 2022 — which failed to deliver a ceasefire. Moscow has insisted that certain conditions must be met before a truce can be reached. Kyiv has yet to respond to the new offer. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO “We hope that all those sincerely interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of negotiations,” Lavrov said. Story continues below this ad Russian President Vladimir Putin, following a call with US President Donald Trump on May 19, said Moscow was willing to work on a memorandum for a future peace accord. Vladimir Medinsky, head of Russia’s negotiating team, said he had contacted Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov to propose the June 2 meeting in Istanbul, stating Russia was ready for a “substantive discussion” on the ceasefire package. Russian …