Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will not attend the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kiev in the past 3 years, scheduled to take place on May 15. Instead, Russia will send a delegation of veteran officials.
On May 14, the Kremlin said the Russian delegation would include advisers to Russian President Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
Shortly after the news was released, a US official confirmed Trump would not attend, but did not disclose whether Washington would send any delegations to Turkey.
The absence of the two Russian and US leaders at the meeting in Istanbul (Türkiye) has significantly reduced expectations for a major breakthrough in efforts to resolve the long-running conflict since 2022 in Eastern Europe.
On May 13, US special ambassador for Ukraine, Mr. Keith Kellogg, said that this event would be an etonnishing meeting if the three leaders of Russia, the US and Ukraine were fully present.
However, it is noteworthy that President Putin has not confirmed his participation in the Russia-Ukraine talks since making the proposal last weekend. Recent speculations about his presence are not from Russia.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official said President Volodymyr Zelensky - who had said he would meet Mr. Putin personally - was on his way to Turkey. Zelensky had previously said he would only participate in negotiations if the Russian leader was also present.
According to Reuters, Mr. Zelensky's tough statements in response to Mr. Putin's unconditional negotiation proposal seem to prove to Mr. Trump that Ukraine is truly hungry for peace in the context that Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that Mr. Zelensky does not want to end the conflict.
