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President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said he will go to Turkish capital Ankara to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Thursday.
“We will do everything to take this meeting,” he told reporters at a hasty briefing.
Russia has not yet said who would fly to Istanbul, just announced, “as soon as (President Putin) finds it necessary.” Putin and Zelensky have not met for five and a half years.
Direct negotiations between the two countries last took place in Istanbul, in March 2022, in the first weeks of a full -scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine.
Putin initially called for a direct negotiation in the second city of Turkey “without conditions” before Zelensky announced that he would go personally and expects that the Russian president would also travel.
The US is expected to send a high -level delegation.
Confiring his visit to Turkey at a hasty press conference, Zelensky clearly sought to strengthen the pressure on Russia to respond. The Kremlin has already warned that it is “useless” to pressure Moscow and does not respond to ultimatums.
Instead, Russia sought to focus on a long -term settlement that decides the “root cause” of war and engaged in “realities on earth.”
However, the Ukrainian leader said he was ready to meet with Putin in Istanbul, his priority was to ensure a 30-day ceasefire, which, according to him, all allies of Ukraine were agreed.
Zelensky said he believed that Putin’s proposal on Sunday for direct negotiations in Turkey was developed to expel Kiev so that he “did not respond” and did not respond negatively to Ukraine. “
US President Donald Trump, who is visiting the Bay, hinted that he could fly to Istanbul “if I think everything can happen.”
At the moment, this seems unlikely, and unconfirmed reports suggest that two senior US messengers, Steve Witco and Keith Kealo are planning to be in Istanbul that day.
The Kremlin sought to silence the assumptions that Putin could go.
“Russia continues to prepare for the negotiations paid on Thursday. That’s all that can be said now,” said Dmitry Peskov’s press.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rabkov said Moscow is ready to negotiate “responsibly” but raises doubts about Ukraine’s ability to follow the agreements.
EU foreign policy head Kaj Kalas said it would be a good step for the two leaders to sit down and talk, but added: “I don’t think he dares, Putin.”
Zelensky also accused Putin of “frightened” to meet him. Its Chief of Staff Andrei Yermak said that when the Russian leader refused to go to Istanbul, it was a “final signal” that he did not want to stop the war.
The heads of the main allies of Ukraine – UK, Germany, Poland and France – went to Kiev over the weekend to prevent further sanctions if Russia did not accept a 30 -day ceasefire.
Currently, the European Union is working on the 17th package of measures.
