Zelensky arrives in Turkey to seek peace-but Putin is a no-show

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Yaroslav Trofimov, The Wall Street Journal 3 min Read May 15, 2025, 03:25 PM IST Ministers of Foreign Ministers met in Turkey before a separate meeting between Ukrainian and Turkish presidents. (Reuters) Summary A low -level Russian team has been sent to Istanbul, but direct discussions with Ukraine are still uncertain. Ankara, Turkey: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Turkey on Thursday to underline his dedication to end the war, as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin stayed away and sent a junior delegation instead. Zelensky, who is expected to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, would not be expected to meet with the Russian negotiating team on Thursday morning that arrived separately in Istanbul. But a meeting between Ukrainian negotiators at the lower level and the Russians remain possible, perhaps as early as Thursday afternoon. No time for that meeting has been set up so far. Senior US negotiators are also scheduled to travel to Istanbul on Thursday night and Friday. This complicated diplomatic maneuvering reflects efforts by Russia and Ukraine to convince the Trump administration that they are interested in a peaceful solution – but without compromising their own core positions. Trump, who visits the Persian Gulf, made the war in Ukraine his most important priority for foreign policy. Trump hinted on Wednesday that he would come to Turkey if Putin also attends it – but the Russian leader, who kept the option open for days, announced hours later that he was sending a junior team led by former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky. Despite the sniffing, Trump expressed the possibility of a breakthrough. “I was thinking about going, but it’s very difficult because of what we do today and tomorrow. But you know, if anything happened, I would go on Friday if it was appropriate, “he said in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday before a visit to Abu Dhabi. In March, after a turbulent meeting that led to Zelensky’s ejection from the White House, Ukrainian leader Trump’s call to an unconditional 30 -day ceasefire accepted to facilitate more substantive discussions on the termination of the war. Ukrainian negotiators only plan to meet the Russian team that arrived in Istanbul to discuss the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire and will not touch other matters before the ceasefire is in place, according to officials informed about Kyiv’s position. Unlike Zelensky, Putin refused to take into account Trump’s ceasefire request. Instead, he sent the same officials to Istanbul who represented him in the abortive negotiations of March 2022 that essentially sought Ukraine’s surrender. Russian officials said they were trying to renew the talks with Ukraine based on the 2022 concept agreements in Istanbul, which was discussed at a time when Russian tanks were deployed on the Kyiv Ring Road. These concepts, which were never endorsed by Zelensky, asked a dramatic cut in the size of the Ukrainian army, restrictions on the Ukrainian weapons and other wide limits on Ukrainian sovereignty. All of this is unacceptable to Ukraine and its European allies, who intend to continue to deliver weapons to Kyiv and harden the Ukrainian army so that it can defend the country against renewed Russian attacks. Ukraine is currently controlling much larger and has much more powerful weapons-including those who can strike deep in the Russian area in March 2022. Before the Zelensky-Edrdogan meeting, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, discussed Ukraine’s negotiating city in the Turkish city of the state of Antaly. Lindse. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland. According to US officials, Rubio, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Middle East Steve Witkoff and his special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, are expected in Istanbul. The leaders of France, Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom visited Zelensky last week in Kyiv, and called on Putin to agree to an unconditional ceasefire and promise the plated sanctions against Russia if he does not. Trump also discussed the possibility of secondary sanctions that Russia’s oil exports – the country’s most important source of income – would strangle as Putin refuses to participate in the peace process. Graham is pushing legislation for the purpose. It is unclear whether the White House, which so far on woo rather than threatening Putin would, in the end, agree to such punishments. Write to Yaroslav Trofimov on [email protected], catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #russia Ukraine War Coin Special