Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to journalists on the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Might 15, 2025. (AP Picture/Evgeniy Maloletka)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are set to carry their first direct peace talks in three years, each nations mentioned Thursday, however hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fulfill face-to-face in Turkey.
Zelenskyy mentioned he’s sending a workforce headed by his protection minister from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul to fulfill a Russian delegation, though Moscow’s facet doesn’t embrace “anybody who really makes selections.”
The Ukrainian facet can be headed by Protection Minister Rustem Umerov, and its goal is “to aim no less than the primary steps towards de-escalation, the primary steps towards ending the struggle — particularly, a ceasefire,” he mentioned.
READ: Putin not named in Russian delegation for Ukraine talks: Kremlin
Few had anticipated Putin to indicate up in Turkey, and his absence punctured any hope of great progress towards ending the 3-year-old struggle amid peace efforts in current months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It additionally raised the prospect of intensified worldwide sanctions on Russia which have been threatened by the West.
Zelenskyy, who flew Thursday to Ankara after difficult Putin to sit down down with him, accused Moscow of not making a critical effort to finish the struggle by sending a low-level negotiating workforce that he described as “a theater prop.”
His proposal to Putin got here amid a flurry of maneuvering final weekend as either side sought a diplomatic benefit.
Zelenskyy mentioned he determined to ship the delegation to Istanbul to show to U.S. President Donald Trump that Ukraine needs to finish the preventing.
The struggle has killed tens of hundreds of troopers on each side and greater than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, in line with the U.N. Russian forces are getting ready a contemporary army offensive, Ukrainian authorities and Western army analysts say.
At the very least 5 civilians have been killed and 29 wounded previously day, in line with authorities in 5 jap areas of Ukraine the place Russia is attempting to advance.
The top of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, mentioned in Istanbul that the representatives have been prepared to fulfill Ukrainian officers.
“The duty of those direct negotiations with Ukraine is to ascertain long-term peace eventually by eliminating the basis causes of this battle,” he mentioned in a quick assertion.
It was not clear once they would meet. The Russian state information company Tass reported that the talks will go forward Friday, citing an unidentified supply.
READ: Ukraine allies set ultimatum to Russia for 30-day ceasefire
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned he would confer Friday in Istanbul with Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan and the Ukrainian delegation, including that the Russian delegation can be assembly with different members of the U.S. workforce and that he hoped all sides might get collectively.
“We don’t have excessive expectations of what is going to occur tomorrow. And admittedly, at this level, I feel it’s abundantly clear that the one manner we’re going to have a breakthrough right here is between President Trump and President Putin,” Rubio advised reporters in Antalya, Turkey, the place he was attending a NATO overseas ministers assembly.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier welcomed Zelenskyy to the presidential palace in Ankara for their very own talks. Zelenskyy heads Friday to Albania for a gathering of European officers.
Weekend maneuvers
The diplomatic maneuvering started Saturday when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to conform to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a primary step towards peace. Putin responded early Sunday by proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then got here Zelenskyy’s problem to Putin for face-to-face talks.
After days of silence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lastly mentioned Thursday that Putin had no plans to journey to Istanbul within the subsequent few days.
Trump mentioned he was not shocked that Putin was a no-show. He had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to fulfill however disregarded the Kremlin chief’s resolution to not attend.
“I didn’t assume it was attainable for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump advised reporters in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of his go to to the Center East.
Trump mentioned a gathering between him and Putin was essential to breaking the impasse.
READ: Pope Leo XIV requires peace in Ukraine and Gaza on Mom’s Day
“I don’t consider something’s going to occur whether or not you prefer it or not, till (Putin) and I get collectively,” he mentioned on Air Power One whereas touring from Doha to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. “However we’re going to must get it solved as a result of too many individuals are dying.”
Peskov mentioned Putin has no plans to fulfill with Trump within the coming days.
Medinsky, Putin’s aide, is main the Russian workforce that additionally consists of three different senior officers, the Kremlin mentioned. Putin additionally appointed 4 lower-level officers as “consultants” for the talks in Istanbul.
Additionally absent from the talks have been Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s overseas coverage adviser Yuri Ushakov, each of whom represented Russia at talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in March.
The highest-level Ukrainian delegation included Umerov, International Minister Andrii Sybiha and the top of the Ukrainian presidential workplace, Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official mentioned. Zelenskyy will sit on the negotiating desk solely with Putin, mentioned presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
Putin met Wednesday with senior authorities officers and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Peskov mentioned. Protection Minister Andrei Belousov, Common Workers chief Valery Gerasimov and Nationwide Safety Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended.
Russia calls the talks a ‘restart’
The Kremlin billed the Istanbul talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations held there in 2022 that shortly collapsed. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of desirous to proceed preventing, whereas Kyiv mentioned Russia’s calls for amounted to an ultimatum, not one thing each side might agree on. That delegation additionally was additionally headed by Medinsky.
Putin’s proposal got here after greater than three months of diplomacy kick-started by Trump, who promised throughout his marketing campaign to finish the struggle swiftly — though it’s been arduous to drag off. The Trump administration in current weeks indicated it’d stroll away from the trouble if there was no tangible progress quickly.
Sybiha, the Ukrainian overseas minister, met with Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night time in Antalya.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s assist for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” towards peace. “To date, it has not,” Sybiha mentioned.
On Thursday morning, Sybiha additionally met with different European overseas ministers, together with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a submit on X reiterated the decision for a ceasefire and the specter of “huge sanctions” if Russia doesn’t comply.
“We’re in a really tough spot proper now, and we hope that we are able to discover the steps ahead that present for the top of this struggle in a negotiated manner and the prevention of any struggle sooner or later,” Rubio mentioned Thursday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of “standing in the way in which of peace.”
“There was just one nation that began this battle — that was Russia. That was Putin. There’s just one nation now standing in the way in which of peace — that’s Russia, that’s Putin,” he mentioned in a go to to Tirana, Albania.
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Barrot echoed that sentiment: “In entrance of Ukrainians, there’s an empty chair, one that ought to have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he mentioned. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his toes and in all proof doesn’t need to enter into these peace discussions.”
