Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is due in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Thursday where he will meet with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ukraine-Russia talks are due to take place in Istanbul on Thursday, but due to Putin’s refusal to attend, they will not be at the presidential level. Putin announced on Wednesday that he would send Vladimir Medinsky, a presidential adviser; and Alexander Fomin, a deputy defence minister; Igor Kostyukov, an intelligence director; and Mikhail Galuzin, a deputy foreign minister. Zelenskyy had promised to reciprocate if Putin attended, and said this week that Putin skipping the talks would signal an unwillingness to seek peace that should be met with massive western sanctions and more military aid for Ukraine.
