US President Donald Trump has stated that progress on Ukraine peace talks will only occur when he and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in person, reports RTE.
“Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together,” Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One shortly before arriving in Dubai, which is the third destination on his Middle East tour.
“But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying,” he continued, reports RTE.
Trump’s remarks come as Istanbul is set to host the first direct peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in over three years—talks that Mr Putin will not attend, despite calls from various world leaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has landed in Ankara for a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after which decisions regarding Ukraine’s stance in the talks will be made, reports RTE.
While Mr Putin initially proposed these direct discussions—the first since his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022—Russia has chosen to send a lower-ranking delegation.
When asked if he was let down by the level of Russia’s representation, Mr Trump responded: “I haven’t even checked.”
“Obviously he wasn’t going to go,” Mr Trump said of the Russian leader, reports RTE.
“He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there,” he added.
Mr Trump has frequently expressed his willingness to travel to Turkey for the negotiations, though he has yet to do so. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in the Turkish city of Antalya, reports RTE.
Trump’s emphasis on a personal meeting with Putin—someone he has publicly admired—marks a clear departure from the position held by former US President Joe Biden, who maintained that only Ukraine should determine its own future through negotiations.
Turkey’s foreign minister expressed cautious optimism regarding the upcoming Istanbul talks between the Russian and Ukrainian teams.
“If the parties’ positions are harmonised and trust is established, a very important step towards peace will have been taken. We have enough reasons to be hopeful,” said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan following a NATO meeting in Antalya, reports RTE.
According to a Turkish foreign ministry source, no exact time has been scheduled for the talks, which will involve technical-level Russian delegates and some American officials currently in Istanbul.
“No time has been set for a meeting yet. In this respect, there is no question of a postponement,” the source stated, reports RTE.
Russia confirmed that Turkey had requested for the discussions to take place in the afternoon.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters that “on the initiative of the Turkish side”, the talks would take place “in the second half” of the day, reports RTE.
Ukraine has yet to confirm a time for these much-anticipated discussions.
Mr Putin’s name was absent from the Kremlin’s list of negotiators released late yesterday, after Mr Zelensky publicly challenged him to attend the talks in person, reports RTE.
Instead, Mr Putin has appointed a lower-level team led by a hardline adviser who previously handled the unsuccessful peace talks of March 2022, shortly after the invasion began.
The lack of senior figures such as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov or foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, alongside Mr Putin’s own absence, appears to reduce the gravity or potential outcomes of the negotiations, reports RTE.
Since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, tens of thousands have been killed and the Kremlin now controls roughly 20% of Ukraine, making it Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
A Ukrainian official reported that Mr Zelensky would first meet with President Erdogan in Ankara—not Istanbul—before determining Ukraine’s next steps in the peace effort, reports RTE.
“The president starts his visit with Erdogan in Ankara and only then will the president decide on the next steps,” the official stated, responding to reports from Russian state media that Russia’s delegation had already arrived in Istanbul, reports RTE.
Ukraine also dismissed claims from Russian outlets that the discussions would start at 10am local time (8am Irish time).
“Russian fake news,” said Mr Zelensky’s spokesperson when questioned about the alleged schedule, reports RTE.
The US State Department announced that the Secretary of State would be in Istanbul the following day “for meetings with European counterparts to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and other regional issues of mutual concern”.
Mr Zelensky had actively tried to persuade Mr Putin to attend the talks.
“This is his war … Therefore, the negotiations should be with him,” he declared in a statement, reports RTE.
Despite widespread diplomatic activity aiming to end the conflict, both sides remain firm in their positions, and there is little indication of a willingness to compromise.
The Kremlin’s choice of Vladimir Medinsky—a known hardliner and former culture minister—as the lead negotiator implies that Russia is unlikely to offer any concessions during the talks, reports RTE.
Mr Medinsky previously headed the failed 2022 discussions, during which Russia made broad territorial demands and sought military constraints on Ukraine.
He is also considered influential in promoting Russia’s historical claims over Ukrainian lands, reports RTE.
Russia’s negotiation team also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, and Igor Kostyukov, who leads Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Ukraine has yet to reveal its negotiation team. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga is currently in Turkey participating in a NATO foreign ministers’ summit in Antalya, reports RTE.
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