Putin likes to keep people guessingpublished at 06:55 British Summer Time
06:55 BST
Orla Guerin
Reporting from Istanbul
Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockPresident Vladimir Putin kept people guessing – as he likes to do – about whether or not he would attend the talks. But he seems set to stay away.
The Ukrainian leader, by contrast, had said he was ready to fly from Ankara to Istanbul – at a moment’s notice – if President Putin turned up but added that he would only talk to him.
“This is his war, “ Volodymyr Zelensky said, “so the negotiations should be with him”.
Direct Russia-Ukraine talks – at any level – would be the first since the months after Moscow’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
But, there’s no sign that either side is ready for major concessions.
For now, the only winner is the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faced mass protests here recently, after the jailing of his main rival.
He can now shift attention from domestic repression, to international diplomacy.