Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not among the names listed by the Kremlin, as should attend peace talks on war in Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday, despite calls to Ukraine he is present.
According to the Kremlin’s statement, the Russian delegation is headed by Assistant President Vladimir Medinsky.
Earlier, Zelensky said he would attend talks and meet with Putin when the Russian president agreed and said he would do his best to make sure that a meeting was held.
According to media reports, US President Donald Trump will also not be present, despite the fact that he had previously hinted that when Putin was there.
On Thursday, Zelensky will be in the capital of Turkish capital Ankara to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He said he would attend direct negotiations in Istanbul with Russia, but only if Putin was also present.
“I expect to find out who comes from Russia, and then I will decide what steps should Ukraine take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing,” he said in his night video on Wednesday.
Putin and Zelensky have not met personally since December 2019. Russia and Ukraine last negotiated in March 2022 in Istanbul, shortly after Moscow launched a full -scale invasion of a neighbor.
Since then, the fight has been raging in Ukraine. Russian forces have slowly expanded the number of the territory they control over the past year, mostly in eastern Ukraine.
On Sunday, Putin called on direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the largest city of Turkey. Zelensky then announced that he would go personally and hoped that the Russian president would also travel.
Putin’s proposal on direct negotiations in Istanbul followed the calls of the Western Pauers up to a 30-day ceasefire after European leaders met in Kiev on Saturday.
After Trump urged Ukraine to accept the proposal on Sunday, Zelensky said he would travel there.
“There is no point in extending the killings. And I will wait for Putin on Turkie on Thursday. Personally,” Zelensky wrote in a social media report.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump was an opportunity to join the meeting himself when Putin did.
The US president, who is currently in Qatar, told reporters that he did not know if his Russian colleagues would be “if I’m not there.”
“I know he would like me to be there and it is possible. If we could end the war, I would think about it,” Trump said.
The US is expected to send a high -level delegation to negotiate.
The best diplomat of the country, Mark Rubio, arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, where NATO Foreign Ministers will meet on Thursday.
On the eve of this meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrew Sibikh stated that he met Rubio on Wednesday night. Sibikh stated that he confirmed Ukraine’s commitment to peaceful efforts and called on Russia “to respond to the constructive steps of Ukraine”.
Rubio plans to go further to Istanbul on Friday, where the State Department states that he will visit negotiations with his European counterparts to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Arriving at his hotel in Antalya on Wednesday, Rubio did not answer when the BBC asked him whether Putin would come to Turkey.
Since returning to the White House, President Trump has sought to abandon the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
He graduated from the long -time Western boycott of the Russian leader, talking to Putin on the phone in February, and his messenger Steve Witcoof met Vladimir Putin for negotiations in Moscow.
Earlier, Trump said Russia and Ukraine were “very close to the deal”.
On Sunday, when Putin offered direct negotiations, Trump posted the truth on his social platform: “Potentially a great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
