Highly anticipated talks between Russia and Ukraine – two countries locked in a bloody conflict for more than a decade – could still take place in Turkey on Thursday, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to skip the summit.
The Kremlin announced Thursday that Putin would not travel to Turkey after days of speculation he could show up for a meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are currently in Turkey, although there has been no official confirmation on when or whether they would meet.
Here is what we do – and don’t – know:
Will talks happen on Thursday? The Russian state news agency Tass reported earlier Thursday the talks were set to start in Istanbul at 10 a.m. local time, a report that was dismissed by the Ukrainians as “fake news.”
The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, then said the meeting was postponed to the afternoon – a statement disputed by the hosts, the Turkish government, which said no talks were officially scheduled and therefore could not have been postponed. By early evening local time, no talks had yet begun.
Who’s in Turkey? The Russian delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, Putin’s senior aide and a hardliner who led the Russian side during the last known direct talks between the two countries, in the spring of 2022.
The makeup of that Russian team was derided by Zelensky. “After learning the composition of the Russian delegation, it became clear that they are not approaching real talks seriously,” the Ukrainian president said. “So far, we do not see any real decision-makers among those who arrived.”
But Zelensky said that, “out of respect” for US President Donald Trump and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he would send a high-ranking team. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha headlines that Ukrainian group; Zelensky, who was in the Turkish capital, Ankara, to meet Erdogan earlier Thursday, did not travel on to Istanbul for the talks.
Ukraine’s team also includes deputy heads of the military, intelligence and security services, and the deputy foreign minister, according to a presidential decree.
US presence: Several top US officials are also in Turkey. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived to the coastal city of Antalya on Wednesday, attending an informal meeting of the NATO foreign ministers there.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and his foreign envoy Steve Witkoff plan to be in Istanbul for the talks, a senior Trump administration official said Tuesday, a statement confirmed by another source familiar with the plans.
Trump weighs in: The US president, who urged Zelensky to meet Putin after the Russian leader suggested the talks, told reporters Thursday that when it comes to peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, “nothing is going to happen until” he meets with Putin.
How did we get here? Putin called for direct talks at the weekend, having rejected a call from Kyiv and its allies for a 30-day truce. Zelensky quickly said he was ready to meet, following it up by saying he would not meet any Russian official apart from Putin.
