Negotiators had hoped for direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy in Turkiye. Russian President Vladimir Putin said a delegation of senior Russian officials will meet in Turkiye for direct talks on the war against Ukraine tomorrow, but the Russian president himself is not on the list of participants.
The Kremlin published on its website a decree signed by Putin late on Wednesday declaring that adviser Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, and head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Igor Kostyukov will be part of those traveling to Turkiye, but there is no mention of Putin in the decree.
The scheduled talks, which are likely to be held on Thursday in Istanbul, the commercial capital of Turkiye, would be Kyiv’s first direct talks with Moscow since 2022, just after Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour, and Putin’s potential attendance has dominated the debate for days.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier indicated that he would go to Turkiye for face-to-face talks and dared Putin to do the same, claiming that refusal to attend would prove that the Russian leader “does not want to end the war.”.
We had several meetings today with the team about the format in Turkiye,” Zelenskyy said on social media on Thursday. “I am waiting to see who will arrive from Russia, and then I will decide on what steps Ukraine needs to take. The signals they give so far in the media are not convincing.
United States President Donald Trump had earlier indicated that he might go to Turkiye to attend the talks himself in a visit to the Middle East, but news agency Reuters on Thursday said Trump would not go, quoting a US official.
