Ukraine-Russia talks in Turkey. What is known now?

Direct talks between Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday, May 15. Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken of his willingness to meet with Putin, but the latter has ignored this and sent representatives instead. This casts doubt on the very fact of the meeting.

This is reported by The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

Zelensky is due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday for separate talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The US President Donald Trump has also hinted that he could attend the talks in Kyiv and Moscow. Now he says he will be there “if appropriate” and could arrive on Friday, May 16.

The Russian delegation will be led by Putinʼs aide Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, the same people who were sent to the negotiations in 2022. The Kremlin leader, who himself proposed resuming negotiations with Ukraine, is not part of the delegation.

"Why would Putin go if Iʼm not there?" was Donald Trumpʼs reaction.

The decision to send junior officials to the talks in Turkey effectively makes any breakthrough impossible, Western officials told the WSJ. By appointing Medinsky, a former culture minister, to head the delegation, Putin, they say, is demonstrating his refusal to make concessions and pursuing the same goals as in 2022.

Kyiv has not yet publicly committed to sending anyone to the talks in Istanbul or naming a delegation. A source for Suspilne reports that Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, and Deputy Heads of the Presidential Administration Ihor Zhovkva and Ihor Brusylo will be in Turkey with Zelensky on May 15.

It is not yet known whether they will participate in the negotiations with the Russian delegation. However, Andriy Sybiha confirmed on social media that he arrived in Ankara to participate in the negotiations.

Negotiations in Turkey

Volodymyr Zelensky informed on May 10 that a full ceasefire with the Russian Federation should begin on May 12 for at least 30 days. According to him, the ceasefire should be comprehensive, that is, in the air, at sea, and on land, and monitoring can be provided together with the United States.

On the night of May 11, Putin proposed resuming direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, without mentioning the 30-day ceasefire that was supposed to come into effect on May 12. Zelensky responded that he would personally wait for Putin in Turkey if Russia ceased fire.

The US President Donald Trumpʼs special envoy Steve Witkoff has offered his candidacy to mediate in possible talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey. Reuters, citing sources, reported that Trump will send Witkoff and Special Representative for Ukraine Keith Kellogg to the meeting. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also be there.

Because Putin’s participation remained in question, President Zelensky saw no point in going to Istanbul at all and wanted to abandon the talks, The Washington Post reports. American and European officials convinced him not to do so.

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