President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on May 15. He is then ready to fly to Istanbul if Putin is there.
He said this on May 13 at a press conference for the media.
According to Zelensky, he agreed to meet with Erdogan in Ankara.
"We will wait for the meeting with Putin in Turkey. So that Russia does not manipulate the cities and does not say that Putin is not ready to fly to Ankara, but is ready to fly only to Istanbul, I want to say right away: if Putin flies to Istanbul, and not to the capital, I have sent a signal to President Erdogan, and the Turkish side is ready for Erdogan and I to fly to Istanbul," the president added.
He emphasized that he would do everything to ensure that this meeting takes place, "if Putin is ready to meet not only in the media, but also in real life."
"And then at the level of leaders, we will do everything to agree on a ceasefire. Because it is with him that I must agree on a ceasefire, because only he decides this," Zelensky noted.
The president added that he also invited US President Donald Trump to the meeting. So far, there has been no response from him.
- Zelensky reported 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 is due to take effect on May 12. Zelensky responded that he would personally wait for Putin in Turkey if Russia ceases fire.
- Senior White House adviser and special representative of the US president Steve Witkoff has offered his candidacy as a mediator in possible talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey. Reuters, citing sources, wrote that Trump will send Witkoff and special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, to the meeting.
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