Zelenskyy reaches Turkiye for peace talks but Putin is absent – national

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear on Thursday The proposed direct peace talks In Türkiye with Ukrainian leader Folodimir Zellinski, who was waiting for Putin in the capital Ankara after challenging discussions about the end of more than three years.

With the absence of Putin, the Russian delegation in Istanbul was not clear whether the two sides would meet in their first talks since March 2022, after Russia invaded its neighbor in the previous month.

Zelenskyy said that the Russian delegation seemed to be just a “decor.” He spoke at the airport in the Turkish capital, Ankara, who said that the next steps for the talks will be determined after his next meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The absence of Putin was the hole in the hope of a boom in peace efforts in the efforts given by a batch in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. This also raised the possibility of intense international sanctions on Russia, which was threatened by American and European leaders.

“Now, after three years of tremendous suffering, there is finally a window of opportunities,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Vian at a separately NATO meeting in Türkiye. “The conversations … we hope to open a new chapter.”

The war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations, and continues along the confrontation line about 1000 km (620 miles). Western military analysts say Russian forces are also preparing to launch a new military attack.

The Kremlin never gave a challenge on Sunday from Zelenskyy. This challenge came after Putin suggested direct talks with Ukraine.

Mikhailo Poduliak, presidential advisor in Ukraine, said that Zelinsky would only sit on the table with Putin.

US President Donald Trump said he was not surprised that Putin was not not attending. Trump had pressed Putin and Zellinski to meet, but Putin’s decision appears not to attend.

“I did not think it was possible for Putin to go if I was not there,” Trump said in an exchange with journalists while participating in a round business table in Doha on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.

Karimlin said that Vladimir Medinski, an assistant to Putin, is leading the Russian team, which will also include three other senior officials. Putin has also appointed four minimum “experts” officials to the talks in Istanbul.

Ukrainian official said that the Ukrainian delegation also includes Defense Minister Rosti Omrov, Foreign Minister Andre Sibha and head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andrei Yermak, a Ukrainian official.

Details about whether or when it is or where and where the Ukrainian delegation may meet with their Russian counterparts. Russia said the talks had been postponed until the afternoon “in the Turkish side initiative”

Tass said that the talks would have been in a presidential office on the Bosphorus, in Istanbul.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday evening a meeting with senior government officials and delegation members in preparation for the talks. The meeting was attended by Defense Minister André Pelosov, Chairman of the General Staff Valerie Gerasimov, and the National Security Council Security Sergei Shoyo, among others.

Kiev and his European Kurdish allies urged the approval of a 30 -day full ceasefire as a first step towards peace. Putin presented direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.

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The Kremlin described talks on Thursday as “restarting” the peace negotiations held in Istanbul in 2022, but soon collapsed. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of the desire to continue fighting, while Kiev said that Russia’s demands were an alarm instead of something that both sides could agree on.

Then the Russian delegation was headed by Medinski.

Putin’s proposal came more than three months after the diplomacy started by Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war quickly. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has indicated that it may move away from the peace effort if there is no concrete progress soon.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andre Sibha met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late on Wednesday night. On Thursday, Antalya will host NATO ministers to discuss the new defense investment goals, as the United States converts its focus into security challenges away from Europe.

Sybiha again confirmed Ukraine’s support for the mediation efforts, and thanked the United States for its continuous participation, and urged Moscow to “respond to the constructive steps of Ukraine” towards peace. “Until now, it was not,” said Sibha.

On Thursday morning, Sibi also met with European ministers abroad, including his French counterpart, Jean -Nawil Barrot, who was repeated in a position on the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “tremendous sanctions” if Russia does not comply.

“We are in a very difficult place at the present time, and we hope that we can find steps forward that stipulates the end of this war in a way that negotiates and prevents any war in the future,” Rubio said on Thursday.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elena Valtonin, in Antalya, accused NATO talks, Moscow of not being ready to engage in a dangerous peace process.

“We have one empty chair, which is Vladimir Putin’s president. So I now think that the entire world realizes that there is only one party that is not ready to participate in serious peace negotiations, and this is certainly Russia,” Valtonin said.

Barrot echoed her feelings: “In front of the Ukrainians, there is an empty chair, which Vladimir Putin should have occupied.” “Vladimir Putin drags his feet and in all evidence he does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”

–The Associated Press Loren Cook book in Brussels. Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Matthew Lee in Antalya, Türkiye contributed to this report.