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Ahead of a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has set a firm condition, stating that he will only hold talks with the Russian president himself. Zelensky said he would travel to Turkey at the urging of US President Donald Trump.
The Russian leader suggested direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in the country on Thursday in response to the ceasefire-or-sanctions ultimatum given to Moscow by Kyiv’s European allies on Saturday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the talks in Istanbul, Trump confirmed on Tuesday.
“I’ve also been working relentlessly to end the terrible bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine and, very importantly,” Trump said during remarks at a Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Talks are being held in Turkey later this week, probably on Thursday, and they could produce some pretty good results.”
Trump has said he is open to going to Turkey, but the Kremlin has so far refused to say whether Putin – or anyone else – would go. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin would announce his decision in due course.
Zelensky said he would not consider meeting any other Russian representatives because “everything in Russia depends” on Putin.
“So I said that on Thursday I will go to Turkey and I’m ready to meet Putin and put an end to the war through direct talks with him,” Zelensky told reporters at a news conference.
Zelensky also said he offered Trump the option of joining the meeting, saying the presence of the US president would “give additional impulse for Putin to fly in.” He said earlier that his country “would appreciate” Trump’s attendance, and said he supported the US president’s call for direct talks between himself and Putin.
Top Trump administration officials plan to be in Turkey this week, but the president’s possible attendance remains an open question that will largely be dictated by whether his Russian counterpart attends, according to a senior administration official.
He is visiting the Gulf this week, making stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, for his first major overseas trip since the start of his second term. He said he could detour to Turkey “if I thought it would be helpful.”
