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Donald Trump (L) and Russian Vladimir Putin arrives at the joint press conference after a meeting at the Helsinki Presidential Palace on July 16, 2018.
Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Gets the image
He hopes that Ukraine and Russian leaders will meet for peace talks in Turkey on Thursday, when Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and White House colleague Donald Trump decided to miss the trip.
President of Ukrainian Volodimir Zelensky put pressure on the part of Trump to participate in the negotiations in Istanbul, but said that he would do it only if the Russian president is present.
Last Sunday, Russian President Putin signaled that he is ready to hold “direct negotiations” with the President of Ukraine Volodimir Zelenka “without any conditions” on Istanbul this week.
The Russian leader did not confirm whether he would participate in the negotiations personally, and Putin’s name was noticeable when the Kremlin confirmed that the delegation he was sent to Istanbul at the end of Wednesday night.
The Kremlin was designed to attend the talks, with Putin’s press, Dmitry Peskov, who transferred to the subject. Asked on Wednesday, Putin would go to Turkey, the press secretary replied that there were “working meetings” instead of the president.
The Kremlin said the delegation was headed by the Assistant President Vladimir Medinsky and included Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, as well as a high -ranking military official Igor Kastyukov.
Following the Kremlin’s announcement, a high -ranking White House official told NBC News that senior American messengers Steve Witco and Keith, as well as Secretary of State Mark Rubio, will travel to the Istanbul – while Trump does not go to Turkey.
This week Zelensky Ukraine expressed skepticism at the negotiations, commenting on Wednesday that he was still “waiting to find out who will come from Russia and then I will decide what steps should Ukraine take.
Kiev was under pressure to participate in the discussions after Trump said Ukraine should agree with Russia “immediately”.
“At least they will be able to determine the possible deal,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“If this is not the case, European leaders and the United States will know where everything is and can go accordingly!” Trump said he “starts to doubt that Ukraine will conclude with Putin” before exclaiming: “Make a meeting now !!!”
It is unknown whether Zelenskyy will continue to attend negotiations, which are reported to start about 10 in Moscow time, now that Putin and Trump are not present.
Andrei Yermak, the head of the Zelensky office, is expected to take part in the negotiations, but there was no official confirmation that he was still involved. Zelensky is due to meet with Turkish President Erdogan on Thursday.
