Zelenskyy arrives in Turkiye for peace talks but Putin absent
Global News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the next steps for talks would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t show up Thursday for proposed direct peace talks in Turkey with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was waiting for Putin in the capital Ankara after challenging him to face-to-face discussions on ending their countries’ more than three-year war.
With Putin absent, the Russian delegation was in Istanbul and it wasn’t clear whether the sides would meet for their first talks since March 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor the previous month.
Zelenskyy said the Russian delegation appeared to be merely “decorative.” Speaking at the airport in the Turkish capital, Ankara, he said the next steps for talks would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Putin’s absence punctured hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts given a push in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the U.S. and European leaders.
“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey. “The talks … hopefully may open a new chapter.”
The war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N., and continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Russian forces are also preparing to launch a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.
The Kremlin never gave a response to Sunday’s challenge from Zelenskyy. That challenge came after Putin had proposed direct talks with Ukraine.
Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.
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