{"id":103702,"date":"2025-05-15T14:15:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T14:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/103702\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T14:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T14:15:10","slug":"ukraines-zelenskyy-arrives-in-turkey-for-peace-talks-but-russias-putin-stays-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/103702\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine’s Zelenskyy arrives in Turkey for peace talks but Russia’s Putin stays away"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed away Thursday from proposed direct peace talks<\/a> on ending the war in Ukraine, leaving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy waiting in the Turkish capital of Ankara after he had challenged the Kremlin leader to face-to-face negotiations.<\/p>\n

With Putin absent, the Russian delegation was in Istanbul \u2014 more than 400 kilometers (almost 300 miles) west of Ankara \u2014 and it wasn\u2019t clear whether the sides would even meet for their first such talks since March 2022, following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of its neighbor the previous month.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said the Russian delegation appeared to be merely \u201ca theater prop\u201d following a weekend of diplomatic brinksmanship between Moscow to Kyiv in the 3-year-old war<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s absence punctured hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts that were given a push in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders amid the intense maneuvering. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the airport in Ankara, Zelenskyy said the next steps for talks would be decided after his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who welcomed him with an honor guard at the presidential palace in Ankara. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,\u201d Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey. \u201cThe talks … hopefully may open a new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N., and continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive<\/a>, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.<\/p>\n

At least five civilians were killed and 29 injured in the past day, according to authorities in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia\u2019s army is trying to advance.<\/p>\n

A weekend of diplomatic maneuvering<\/p>\n

The diplomatic maneuvering began over the weekend when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire<\/a> as a first step toward peace. Putin later responded by proposing direct talks<\/a> with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then came Zelenskyy\u2019s challenge to Putin for face-to-face talks.<\/p>\n

After days of silence, the Kremlin finally responded Thursday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Putin has no plans to travel to Istanbul in the next few days.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> said he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show. Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off Putin\u2019s apparent decision not to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was possible for Putin to go if I\u2019m not there,\u201d Trump told reporters at a meeting with business executives in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Trump said a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to break the deadlock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe anything\u2019s going to happen whether you like it or not, until (Putin) and I get together,\u201d he said on Air Force One while traveling from Doha to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. \u201cBut we\u2019re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peskov said Putin has no plans to meet with Trump in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, is leading the Russian team that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as \u201cexperts\u201d for the talks in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

Also absent from the talks were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin\u2019s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, both of whom represented Russia at the talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n

The top-level Ukrainian delegation included Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official said. Zelenskyy will sit at the negotiating table only with Putin, said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.<\/p>\n

Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts were unclear. Russia said the talks have been postponed until the afternoon \u201cat the initiative of the Turkish side\u201d<\/p>\n

Tass said the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus, in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

Putin met Wednesday evening with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu also attended. <\/p>\n

Russia calls the talks a \u2018restart\u2019<\/p>\n

The Kremlin billed Thursday\u2019s talks as a \u201crestart\u201d of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia\u2019s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on. <\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s delegation then was also headed by Medinsky.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly \u2014 though it\u2019s been hard to pull off<\/a>. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon. <\/p>\n

Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, met with U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night in the Turkish city of Antalya, which is hosting NATO foreign ministers<\/a> to discuss new defense investment goals as the U.S. shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.<\/p>\n

Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine\u2019s support for Trump\u2019s mediation efforts<\/a> and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to \u201creciprocate Ukraine\u2019s constructive steps\u201d toward peace. \u201cSo far, it has not,\u201d Sybiha said. <\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of \u201cmassive sanctions\u201d if Russia doesn\u2019t comply. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future,\u201d Rubio said Thursday. <\/p>\n

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of \u201cstanding in the way of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was only one country that started this conflict — that was Russia. That was Putin. There\u2019s only one country now standing in the way of peace — that is Russia, that is Putin,\u201d he said in a visit to Tirana, Albania.<\/p>\n

Barrot echoed that sentiment: \u201cIn front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,\u201d he said. \u201cVladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014- <\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Aamer Madhani in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey, contributed. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANKARA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed away Thursday from proposed direct peace talks on ending…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[47779,24605,47777,5293,7667,32,299,4179,45136,8614,807,47778,2820,47781,285,8536,332,7661,26933,29906,10243,461,8611,34052,657,7662,49,5213,47780,333,2601,7660,10673,263,26830],"class_list":{"0":"post-103702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-andrei-belousov","9":"tag-andriy-yermak","10":"tag-ankara","11":"tag-diplomacy","12":"tag-dmitry-peskov","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-europe","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-hakan-fidan","17":"tag-international-agreements","18":"tag-keir-starmer","19":"tag-lindsey-graham","20":"tag-marco-rubio","21":"tag-mykhailo-podolyak","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","24":"tag-russia","25":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","26":"tag-sanctions-and-embargoes","27":"tag-sergei-shoigu","28":"tag-sergey-lavrov","29":"tag-turkey","30":"tag-turkey-government","31":"tag-u-s-national-security-council","32":"tag-ukraine","33":"tag-ukraine-government","34":"tag-united-states","35":"tag-united-states-government","36":"tag-vladimir-medinsky","37":"tag-vladimir-putin","38":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","39":"tag-war-and-unrest","40":"tag-washington-news","41":"tag-world-news","42":"tag-yuri-ushakov"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}