The best assistant to Ukrainian leader said on Tuesday that President Voludmir Zelinski will attend talks on Ukraine only if Russia Vladimir Putin is there.
US President Donald Trump offered to attend the proposed meeting on Thursday in Istanbul, which has become the focus of his attempts to end The most bloody conflict in Europe since World War II. Putin has not yet said whether to participate.
Both Russia and Ukraine have sought to show that they are working for peace after Trump gave priority to ending the war, but they have not yet agreed on any clear path.
On Sunday, Putin suggested direct talks with Ukraine after ignoring a Ukrainian suggestion for an unconditional shooting for 30 days. Then Trump publicly told Zelinski about his acceptance.
Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhalao Bodolak told Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhalao Bodolak to Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhailo Podolak of Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhailo Bodoyak for Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolak for Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhailo Podolak for Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhalao Poduliak for the presidential advisor Ukrainian Mikhailo Poduliak of Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhailo Podolak: “President Zelinsky will not meet with any other Russian actor in Istanbul, with the exception of Putin.”
And his chief of staff, Andrei Yermak, said that Zelinski’s trip to Türkiye showed that Kiev was ready for talks, but Ukraine’s position reiterated that any negotiations should come after a ceasefire.
“Our position is very initial and very strong,” Yermak said during a visit to Copenhagen.
Moscow did not say if Putin would travel to Türkiye.
“We are committed to serious search for a long -term peaceful settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, but will not comment on the talks.
Putin launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which launched a war that killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Most Europe gathered around Kiev, which provides weapons and financial aid, while Russia has turned into Iran and North Korea for support.
Trump demanded that the two countries end the war, and threatened to stay away from the efforts made to deliver a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.
If Zelinski and Putin, who do not hide their mutual contempt, will meet on Thursday, that will be the first face to face since December 2019.
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Trump, who is scheduled to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar this week, was unexpectedly offered to travel to Istanbul, which extends the gap between Europe and Asia.
Trump said before he left for his second foreign trip since he returned to the White House in January: “I was actually thinking about flying there. There is a possibility of that, I think, if I think things could happen, but we have to accomplish them,” Trump said before he left for his second foreign trip since he returned to the White House in January.
“Do not underestimate Thursday in Türkiye,” he added.
After the show, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed “the road forward to a ceasefire” in Ukraine with its Ukrainian, British, French, Polish, German and European counterparts.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has had talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Vian.
Reuters reported last year that Putin was open to discuss the ceasefire with Trump, but Moscow has excluded any major regional concessions and insists on Kiev’s abandonment of NATO’s ambitions.
Ukraine said it is ready for talks, but a ceasefire is needed first, a position supported by its European allies.
KYIV wants strong security guarantees as part of any peace deal and rejects a Russian proposal for its restrictions on the size of its army. It says regional issues can be discussed once a ceasefire.
Putin has repeatedly referred to the 2022 deal, which Russia and Ukraine negotiated shortly after the Russian invasion, but it has not been completed.
Under the draft agreement, a copy of Reuters reviewed, Ukraine must agree to permanently neutralize international security guarantees by the Five United Nations Security Council members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
Ukraine and its European allies told Russia that it would have to accept an unconditional ceasefire for 30 days of Monday or to face new sanctions. The Kremlin answered, saying that he would not respond to the warnings.
France said on Monday that European leaders, who met in Ukraine during the weekend, had asked the European Commission to collect new “huge” sanctions targeting the Russian oil and financial sector if Russia fails to stop the ceasefire.
Russian forces control less than five of Ukraine, including the island of Crimea, almost all of them, and more than 70 % of the regions of Donetsk, Zaburisia and Jeruson, according to Russian estimates. It also controls a slice of the Kharkiv region.
Constantine Kosashif, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, said the Senate in the Russian Parliament, by Menvs Isvista, on the observations published on Tuesday that the talks between Moscow and Kiev can move more than 2022 negotiations.
He said: “If the Ukrainian delegation appears in these talks with an authorization to give up any warning and search for a common ground, I am sure that we can advance.”
It is protected by Costas Bias, Steve Holland, and journalists in Moscow, Kiev, and Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; Writing by Elizabeth Piper and Costas Bass and Lydia Kelly; Edited by Jay Voliconbridge, Michael Perry and Joe Pavier
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