The Ukrainian leader meets Turkier’s Erdogan to see if his Russian counterpart will appear.
Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky says he will travel to Turkiye this week to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and wait to find a reconciliation to end the war of more than three years, amid concentrated pressure from the US administration and European leaders.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he will be in Ankara on Thursday to negotiate. He met Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan and the two will wait for Putin to arrive, he said. Zelensky and Erdogan both travelled to Istanbul.
Putin has yet to say whether he will take part in the talk he proposed. Moscow has not responded directly to Zelensky’s challenge for Putin to meet him at the negotiation table.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again refused on Tuesday, refusing to tell reporters whether Putin would travel to Istanbul and who else might represent Russia in potential consultations. “As soon as the president needs it, we’ll announce it,” Peskov said. Russia has only said it would send a delegation to Istanbul “without prerequisites.”
If Zelensky and Putin were to meet on Thursday, it would be their first in-person meeting since December 2019. Much has changed since then.
Pressure in Europe with us
President Donald Trump urged both parties to attend as part of Washington’s efforts to stop the fighting. Trump offered to take part in the discussions himself.
Trump said Monday that he was “considering actually flying” to Istanbul to attend negotiations. It was welcomed by Zelenskyy, but there was no response from Moscow.
“We all in Ukraine would appreciate President Trump if he could be with us at this meeting in Turkiye, which is the right idea.
Trump publicly asked Putin to attend Zelensky after he proposed in-person consultations after he refused a 30-day ceasefire on Sunday.
The Ukrainian leader said he would do so, but Putin said he should also attend in person. On Tuesday, his advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, reiterated that Zelenskyy would only meet with Putin, and there were no other members of the Russian delegation.
Meanwhile, German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz again pressed for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire on Tuesday. “We are waiting for Putin’s agreement,” he said.
“I agree that in the absence of real progress this week, we would like to promote it at the European level to significantly tighten sanctions. We will focus on further areas such as the energy sector and financial markets,” Mertz added.
He welcomed Zelensky’s preparations to travel to Istanbul. “But now it is Putin’s responsibility to accept this offer of negotiation and agree to a ceasefire. The ball is in the Russian court.”
I’ve heard President Trump’s statement. Very important words.
I supported @potus’ idea of a complete and unconditional ceasefire, long enough to provide a foundation for diplomacy. And we want it, we are ready to remain silent on our side.
I supported President Trump…
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy /володод This
The battle drags
Meanwhile, Ukraine said the air defense units had destroyed all 10 drones Russia launched overnight on Tuesday. This is the lowest number of drones Russia has launched overnight attacks in weeks.
Ukrainian military general staff said there had been 133 clashes with Russian troops along the frontline from midnight when the ceasefire proposed by the European powers took effect as of 10pm (19:00 GMT) on Monday.
Oleksandr Silsky, the top Ukrainian commander, was quoted by Zelensky as saying that he still had an understanding of the Donetsk region, the focus of Russia’s western Kursk region, and Russia’s western Kursk region, nine months after Kiev’s troops carried out a cross-border invasion.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of attacking Belgorod, and Governor Viakeslav Gladkov said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces used 65 drones and more than 100 rounds of ammunition to attack the past day.