CNN
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US President Donald Trump has said he is open to attending the potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday, as the US ramps up pressure on Moscow and Kyiv to bring an end to the three-year conflict.
Trump is visiting the Gulf this week, making stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, for his first overseas trip since the start of his second term. He said he could detour to Turkey “if I thought it would be helpful.”
“I think you may have a good result out of the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday, I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen.”
Shortly after, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country “would appreciate” Trump’s attendance, and said he supported Trump’s call for direct talks between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is important that President Trump fully supports the meeting, and we would like him to find the opportunity to be in Turkey,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
The Ukrainian president said Sunday he was prepared to meet Putin after the Russian president proposed “direct talks” in Turkey – something not seen since the early weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Trump urged the Ukrainian president to “immediately” agree to Putin’s offer, undermining efforts to pressure Moscow to a ceasefire.
Moscow has not yet confirmed whether or not Putin or any other Russian official will attend the talks.
Last weekend, Ukraine’s major European allies had given Russia an ultimatum: agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine or face “massive” new sanctions. They insisted there could be no new talks before a ceasefire.
Trump had supported the initiative, Germany’s new chancellor Friedrich Merz said. Trump had called earlier that week for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, without providing a deadline. “If the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions,” he warned.
For months, Ukraine and its allies tried to convince the Trump administration that Putin acts in bad faith, and have said Russia’s agreeing to a ceasefire could function as a test of whether it is serious about achieving the peace the US president has long demanded.
In urging Zelensky meet Putin, Trump dropped his demand for Russia to agree to a ceasefire, marking a dramatic change in approach.
On Monday, the Kremlin said Putin was serious about trying to find peace through talks, but the spokesperson said he could not say more, according to Reuters news agency.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan about Putin’s proposed talks with Ukraine, but a brief Russian foreign ministry account gave no indication whether Putin would attend, according to Reuters.
Zelensky said Monday that Moscow had been “silent” regarding Putin’s proposal to meet.
“Ukraine always supports diplomacy. I am ready to be in Turkey. Unfortunately, the world still has not received a clear answer from Russia regarding numerous proposals for a ceasefire,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
Zelensky said he had spoken to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who “expressed full readiness to host the meeting.” The Kremlin said Putin spoke with Erdogan on Sunday, who “fully supported” Putin’s proposal for peace talks and had offered Istanbul as a venue.
“A new window of opportunity has opened with the recent contacts. We hope that this opportunity will not be wasted,” Erdogan said Monday, following his call with Zelensky.
The Trump administration has been growing increasingly frustrated that efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine have so far fallen short.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that if there was no progress on Ukraine, the US would “need to move on.”
