Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey

Russia’s Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine’s president said his defence minister would head up Kyiv’s team.

They will be the first direct talks between the sides since March 2022, but hopes of a major breakthrough were further dented by US President Donald Trump, who said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later echoed that view, telling reporters in the Turkish resort of Antalya that Washington “didn’t have high expectations” for the Ukraine talks in Istanbul.

The head of the Russian delegation, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, said he expected Ukraine’s representatives to turn up for the beginning of discussions on Friday in Istanbul at 10 a.m.

“We are ready to work,” Medinsky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. He said his delegation had held “productive” talks on Thursday evening with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Zelenskiy said Putin’s decision not to attend but to send what he called a “decorative” lineup showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war. Russia accused Ukraine of trying “to put on a show” around the talks.

“We can’t be running around the world looking for Putin,” Zelenskiy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

“I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation — this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump,” Zelenskiy told reporters.

Zelenskiy said he would also not go to Istanbul and that his team’s mandate was to discuss a ceasefire.

A decree issued by Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s delegation would be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and include the deputy heads of its intelligence services, the deputy chief of the military’s general staff and the deputy foreign minister. (Reuters)