Donald Trump (L) and the Vladimir Putin of Russia arrive to attend a joint press conference after a meeting at the presidential palace in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.
Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty images
The hope that Ukraine and the leaders of Russia would meet for peace talks in Turkey on Thursday were destroyed while the head of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin and the White House Donald Trump has chosen to jump the trip.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had undergone Trump pressure to participate in talks in Istanbul, but said he would only do it if the Russian president was present.
Russian President Putin had pointed out last Sunday that he was willing to keep “direct negotiations” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky “without any prerequisite” in Istanbul this week.
The Russian leader had not however confirmed if he would attend the talks in person, and the name of Putin was notably absent when the Kremlin confirmed the delegation it would send to Istanbul late Wednesday evening.
The Kremlin had been shy on the question of whether the Russian president would attend the talks, with Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, diverting questions from journalists on the subject. When asked Wednesday if Putin would go to Türkiye, the spokesman replied that the president had “work meetings”.
The Russian delegation is said to be led by presidential aid Vladimir Medinsky and included Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Galuzin and defense vice-minister Alexander Fomin, as well as military official Igor Kostyukov, said Kremlin. Despite the absence of Putin, he added that Putin had, however, held a late meeting with several senior Russian officials to discuss talks.
After the Kremlin’s announcement, a senior White House official told NBC News that Senior American envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would go to Istanbul for discussions – while Trump would not go to Turkey.
Ukraine Zelenskyy expressed skepticism with regard to talks this week, commenting on Wednesday that it was still waiting to see who would come from Russia, then I will decide which stages of Ukraine should take. So far, the signals on their part in the media are not convincing, “he said on the social media platform.
kyiv had been under pressure to participate in discussions after Trump said on Sunday that Ukraine should agree to meet Russia “immediately”.
“At least they will be able to determine whether an agreement is possible or not,” Trump wrote on his Truth social media platform.
“If this is not the case, European leaders and the United States will know where everything is and can continue accordingly!” Trump said that he “began to doubt that Ukraine will conclude an agreement with Putin” before exclaiming: “Having Reunion, now !!!”
It is not certain that Zelenskyy will always attend the talks, who should start around 10 o’clock in Moscow, now that Putin and Trump will not be present.
Andrii Yermak, the head of the Zelenskyy office, had to attend the negotiations, but there was no official confirmation that he still participates. Zelenskyy is due to meet Turkish President Erdogan on Thursday in Ankara.
