Author: Sarah Shamim
Published on: 15/05/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Russia and Ukraine are poised for talks in Turkiye on Thursday. United States President Donald Trump will also not attend. On Sunday, Putin proposed the idea of direct negotiations. Putin’s recent push for talks came a day after Ukraine’s four major European allies gave Putin an ultimatum to accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face renewed sanctions. Zelenskyy had earlier held that any peace agreement would require Russia to give up Ukrainian territory it had occupied. The talks are being held in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which straddles the boundary between Asia and Europe. The four European leaders – Britain’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Poland’s Donald Tusk – said that they had briefed Trump about their ultimatum to Russia over a phone call. After Putin called for direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Trump issued a statement on his Truth Social platform asking Ukraine to meet with On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced he will be in Ankara on Thursday. The talks with Russia, however, are supposed to be held in Istanbul subsequently. Vladimir Medinsky, a close Putin aide and former culture minister, will lead Moscow’s team. Putin is now no longer poised to attend, it is unclear if Zelenskyy will personally participate in the talks or whether he will leave it to his team to join the negotiations. In many ways, he scored over Putin by throwing down the gauntlet and asking him to attend. It is difficult to predict what might specifically be discussed in the Turkiye talks. Putin said that if the talks happen, “they will be a significant step forward”. Giles said: “Anything that has been referred to as peace talks [ so far] has not been anything of the sort”
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Hopefully türkiye sandwiches for lunch.