Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to engage solely with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his upcoming visit to Turkey this week for potential peace negotiations, as stated by a senior Ukrainian official on Tuesday.
Zelensky has accepted Putin’s unexpected invitation for face-to-face talks in Istanbul on Thursday, directly challenging the Russian leader to meet in person.
This proposal from Putin is perceived as a response to a Western-supported suggestion for a 30-day ceasefire; however, the Kremlin has not confirmed whether Putin will attend, indicating they were somewhat unprepared for Zelensky’s intention to participate in person.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in the Middle East this week, mentioned to reporters on Monday that he would consider attending the talks in Istanbul “if he believed it would be beneficial.” A White House official, who spoke to CNN anonymously, indicated that Trump’s participation would depend on whether Putin attends as well.
According to Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, this would not be regarded as a meeting of presidential significance if Putin does not attend. “There is one decision-maker on Ukraine’s side… and one on Russia’s side,” he expressed during a YouTube interview with exiled Russian journalist Alexander Plyushchev. “Everything else is merely procedural, yielding no results,” he added.
Podolyak mentioned that a less formal “technical meeting” could occur if Putin opts out, but emphasized that such a scenario would reflect Russia’s unwillingness to engage in direct discussions aimed at concluding the conflict. “If Russia is not represented at the highest level, it indicates they are not prepared to halt the hostilities or negotiate without intermediaries,” he told Plyushchev.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, remarked that the Ukrainian president’s trip to Turkey demonstrates Kyiv’s readiness for dialogue, yet reiterated Ukraine’s position that negotiations must follow a ceasefire.
“Our stance is very principled and resolute,” Yermak conveyed at a conference in Copenhagen.
Should the meeting take place, it would mark the first in-person interaction between the two parties since the Istanbul peace discussions in March 2022, which concluded without an agreement to end hostilities.
Later on Tuesday, sources informed Reuters that Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, are preparing to travel to Istanbul for the anticipated negotiations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced this week his willingness to facilitate the latest discussions, encouraging both sides to capitalize on this “window of opportunity” for peace. China, an important ally of Russia, has also expressed support for a “binding peace agreement” that would be acceptable to all parties involved.
Putin has stated that direct negotiations should address the “root causes” of the conflict and has not dismissed the possibility of a ceasefire arising from the Istanbul meeting. He has insisted that Ukraine must relinquish territories currently under Russian control and abandon its aspiration to join NATO.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state media on Tuesday that Moscow hopes to utilize the upcoming discussions in Istanbul to address the “denazification of the Kyiv regime” and the recognition of Russian authority over certain Ukrainian regions.
Moscow officials have long asserted that Ukraine is governed by neo-Nazis, and Putin has identified both “denazification” and “demilitarization” of Ukraine as primary objectives since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
This report includes contributions from AFP and Reuters.
