Even if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to skip the summit, the highly anticipated talks between Russia and Ukraine, two countries trapped in bloody conflict for more than a decade, could still take place in Turkey on Thursday.
The Kremlin announced Thursday that it would not travel to Turkey a few days after speculation that Putin could compete in a meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Voldimir Zelensky.
Delegations from both Russia and Ukraine are currently in Turkey, but there is no official confirmation as to when they will meet.
This is what we do – and not –
Will the lecture take place on Thursday? TASS, the Russian state news agency, reported on Thursday that talks are expected to begin in Istanbul at 10am local time.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the meeting had been postponed to the afternoon. The host said the statement challenged by the Turkish government could not be postponed because it was not officially scheduled. By the evening on site, we had not discussed it yet.
Who is in Türkiye? The Russian delegation is led by Vladimir Medinsky, a senior aide to President Putin and a hardliner who led the Russian side in the last known in-person meeting between the two countries in spring 2022.
The composition of that Russian team was ridden by Zelensky. “After learning about the composition of the Russian delegation, it became clear that they were not seriously approaching true consultations,” the Ukrainian president said. “So far, we have not seen any real decision makers among those who have arrived.”
But Zelensky said he would send a high-ranking team “out of respect” from President Donald Trump and Turkish leader Lesep Tayyip Erdogan. Foreign Minister Andri Sibikha gives headlines for the Ukrainian group. Zelensky, who was on Thursday to meet the Erdogan factions in the Turkish capital Ankara, did not travel to Istanbul for a meeting.
Our presence: Several US officials are also in Türkiye. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the coastal city of Antalya on Wednesday, where he attended an informal meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and his foreign envoy, Steve Witkov, are both scheduled to be in Istanbul for consultation, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday, a statement confirmed by another source familiar with the plan.
The weight of the cards is as follows: The US president, who urged Zelensky to meet Putin after Russian leaders proposed consultations, told reporters Thursday that he would meet with Putin when it came to peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
How did you get here? Putin called for an in-person meeting over the weekend and refused calls from allies from Kiev for a 30-day truce. Zelensky said he was ready to meet soon, and he said he would not meet any Russian officials other than Putin, followed by that.
