Donald Trump (L) and the Russian Vladimir Putin arrive to attend a joint press conference, a meeting in the presidential palace in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018.
Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty images
The hope that Ukraine and the leaders of Russia would meet on Thursday for Peace Salent in Turkey was deposited when Kremlin -leader Vladimir Putin and his counterpart of the White House Donald Trump chose to skip the journey.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy had come under pressure from Trump to participate in conversations in Istenbul, but had said that he would only do this if the Russian president was present.
Russian President Putin had indicated last Sunday that he was willing to keep “direct negoties” with Zenskyy “without any pre -counterone” in Istteanbul this week.
However, the Russian leader had not confirmed whether he would attend the conversations personally, and the name of Putin was remarkably absent when the Kremlin would send the delegation that it would send, let Ondoy Even send to Istanbul.
The Kremlin was cautious whether the Russian president would attend the conversations, with Putin’s Perss Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, the questions of Southwest Reporters about this subject. Asked on Wednesday if Putin would travel to Turkey, the Spowper replied that the president had introduced “work meetings”.
Peskov, however, was emphatically on Thursday and gave a straight “no” when asked if Putin Wold attended the conversations.
The Russian delegation is led by Presidential Assistant Vladimir Medinsky and includes Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Galuzin and deputy defenses Alexander Alexander Mif, as well as senior military Igor Kostyukov. The absence of Putin, the Kremlin, said that the president had nevertheless held a late night meeting with various top Russian officials to discuss the conversations.
After the announcement of the Kremlin, a senior civil servant of the White House told NBC News that senior US Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs Marco Rubio Turkey
Zellenskyy in Ukraine had spoken about unconventioning, “he said on the X Social Media platform.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets Ukrainian President Volodyymyr Zenskyy in the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 15, 2025.
Mustafa Kamaci/PPO | Via Reuters
In response to the diplomatic small small when he arrived in Ankara on Thursday to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zenskyy said that the delegation of lower officials who had sent Russia to Turkey showed that Moscow was not serious about conversations.
“The level of the Russian delegation is not officially knowing for me, but what we see does not seem like a serious level. We will consider our actions and what our next steps will be after the conversation with President Erdogan,” he said.
“We must understand the level of the Russian delegation and what mandate they have – how they are even able to make the same decisions, because we all know who actually makes decisions in Russia,” I added.
Zenskyy said that Ukrainian delegation to Turkey has fueled its Minister of Foreign Affairs and military intelligence and presidential officials.
Kyiv had come under pressure to participate in discussions after Trump on Sunday said that Ukraine agreed to meet Russia “immediately”.
“At least they will be Uble to determine whether a deal is positive,” Trump wrote on his social media platform for the truth.
“If that is not the case, European leaders and the US will know where EvenThing is and can continue accordingly!” Trump said he “started to doubt that Ukraine will close a deal with Putin” Before he exclaims: “Have the meeting now !!!”
