Trump: Until I saw Putin, nothing will happen to Ukraine
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that there would be no progress on peace talks about Ukraine, while he and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not meet in person.
« Nothing will happen until I and Putin meet, » Trump told reporters aboard the presidential plane shortly before landing in Dubai, the third stop of his tour of the Middle East.
Putin sharply lowered the level of delegation to Istanbul and stays in Moscow, Trump is coming home
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a summit was not preparing and that even the question was not raised in substance.
Shift in Ukraine’s team
Ukraine is considering sending a team of negotiations with Russia in Istanbul to see what Moscow’s delegation will say, but also to determine if its team is authorized to make any decisions, a Ukrainian diplomatic source said on Thursday.
The source, who requested anonymity, said that if the Russian delegation was ready to make a « serious conversation », the Ukrainian side could engage with the team.
Negotiations in Istanbul will start afternoon
But if the Russian delegation does not show any serious approach to the negotiations, « we will have the right to conclude that it is a Russian charade, not a meaningful job for peace, » the source said.
Later, after talking to Turkish President Recep Erdogan, Volodimir Zelenski announced that he would send a delegation to Istanbul, led by the Minister of Defense Rustem Musrov.
The Ukrainian president said that if a truce could be reached in a technical level, then his meeting with Putin is not necessary.
Erdogan himself said he was ready to accept the Russian and Ukrainian president for negotiations « when they are ready. »
Zelenski, who called for an unconditional 30-day termination of fire with Russia, told Ankara at a press conference that he would not go to Istanbul after Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to appear and instead sent what the Ukrainian leader described as « a low-level team ».
The special ambassador of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik said on Thursday that discussing a possible termination of fire in Ukraine will only be possible after a strategy for settlement of the conflict has been agreed.
So far, in front of the office of the Turkish president in Istanbul at the Dolmabahce Palace, where the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are supposed to be held, there are mainly journalists. The Ukrainian delegation has not yet arrived in the city, and President Volodimir Zelenski meets with his host Rage Erdogan in Ankara.
