Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday to meet him in person this week for peace talks in Istanbul — just as President Trump suggested he should.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelensky will only show up to the meeting if Putin is there to greet him as a sign that Russia is finally ready to end its invasion and seek diplomacy.
“President Zelensky will not meet with any other Russian representative in Istanbul except Putin,” Podolyak told Reuters.
The Kremlin has yet to say who will attend Thursday’s meeting in Turkey after Putin proposed the peace talks earlier this week following threats of heavy sanctions from the West if he did not agree to a 30-day cease-fire.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said Russian officials have already been preparing for Putin to reject the meeting, with Moscow claiming a sit-down with Zelensky would only amount to “pure spectacle.”
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will be at the Istanbul meeting to help end the three-year war, according to sources familiar with the plans.
Trump has also offered to attend the peace talks if necessary as he called on both Zelensky and Putin to commit to ending the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
“I’ve also been working relentlessly to end the terrible bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said Tuesday while in Riyadh.
“Talks are being held in Turkey later this week, probably on Thursday, and they could produce some pretty good results,” he added.
Over the weekend, Trump said Zelensky should “immediately” agree to meet Putin in Istanbul.
Zelensky has said that regardless of how the talks proceed later this week, a cease-fire must be reached before any negotiating can begin on how to end the war.
Putin has repeatedly rejected such a truce, with the Kremlin still showing no signs that it is willing to make any form of concession to attain peace while demanding it be allowed to keep all the territory it has taken from Ukraine since the invasion started in February 2022.
With Post wires
