Russian President Vladimir Putin sent aides and deputy ministers to hold peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday, spurning Kyiv’s challenge to go there in person to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin last weekend proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul and Zelenskyy had said he would be waiting for the Kremlin leader.
But after keeping the world guessing for days about Putin’s plans, the Kremlin late on Wednesday named a lower-level delegation that did not include the president and was described by Kyiv’s European allies as a snub.
Zelenskyy’s plane landed at Esenboga Airport in Ankara and he was scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would decide on the next steps in talks with Russia after his meeting with Erdogan.
Zelenskyy told reporters that the level of the Russian delegation dispatched to Turkey for talks was “decorative.”
Putin’s no-show plunged prospects for the talks into confusion. Russia said they would take place in Istanbul in the second half of the day, but Turkey said no meeting was scheduled yet.
“We need to understand what kind of level the Russian delegation is, and what mandate they have and whether they can make any decisions,” said Zelenskyy.
U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on the presidential plane on his Middle East trip, appeared to dampen expectations of the Turkey discussions on Thursday.
“Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together,” he said.
Washington watching closely
Zelenskyy had goaded Putin earlier this week by questioning if he was brave enough to show up. The Kremlin says Putin — who is also under threat of even tighter European sanctions to “suffocate” Russia’s economy — does not respond to ultimatums.
The Russian delegation named by the Kremlin is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and includes a deputy defence minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of the GRU military intelligence agency.
The Kremlin said Putin had held a late-night meeting with ministers, military commanders and spy chiefs to discuss the upcoming talks.
The warring sides last held face-to-face talks in March 2022, only weeks after Putin sent his army into Ukraine, talks also held in Turkey.
Both are trying to show Trump they are serious about peace, as he presses them to end what he calls “this stupid war.” Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict unless there is clear progress.
Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress.
After leaning heavily on Ukraine and clashing with Zelenskyy at a meeting in the Oval Office in February, Trump has shown increasing impatience with Putin in recent weeks and threatened additional sanctions to hit Russian trade.
Trump, who is on a three-nation tour of the Middle East, said on Thursday he would go to the talks in Turkey on Friday “if it is appropriate.”
Zelenskyy backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a truce could be discussed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at a NATO meeting in Turkey, said there was no military solution to the conflict, and Trump was open to “virtually any mechanism” that would lead to peace.
Ukraine looks for security guarantees
With Russian forces in control of close to one-fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.
Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.
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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Zelenskyy had shown his good faith by coming to Turkey, but there was an “empty chair” where Putin should be sitting.
“Putin is stalling and clearly has no desire to enter these peace negotiations, even when President Trump expressed his availability and his desire to facilitate these negotiations,” he said.
Estonia, an EU and NATO member that borders Russia, said Putin was delivering a “slap in the face” by sending a low-level team.
Highlighting the level of tension between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance, Estonia said a Russian fighter jet had “violated NATO territory” as the Estonian navy tried to detain a Russia-bound oil tanker under British sanctions.
