Putin skips Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul. So who will represent Russia?
In a final confirmation on Wednesday night, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the peace talks with Ukraine, scheduled for Thursday in Turkey's Istanbul, despite calls from his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend the direct talks, BBC reported.
After much deliberations about who would attend the talks in Istanbul, the Kremlin late on Wednesday night confirmed that the Russian delegation will be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. It would have been the first direct talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.
Earlier, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had said he would surely attend the meeting in Turkey and would meet Putin face-to-face if the Russian president agrees, adding that he would ensure direct talks with Putin if arrives in Istanbul.
Today we held several meetings with the team regarding the format in Türkiye. I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing.
We also hear that President Trump is… pic.twitter.com/DurxIKaMih
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 14, 2025
Zelenskyy would be in Turkey's capital Ankara on Thursday where he is poised to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin and Zelenskyy have not met each other since December 2019, and direct talks between Russia and Ukraine haven't taken place since March 2022, a month after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Kyiv.
According to a Euro News report, Russia would also be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, and Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) chief Igor Kostyukov. Reports also confirmed that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov won't attend the meeting in Istanbul.
It was Putin who had initially called for a direct talk with Ukraine in Istanbul 'without any pre-condition' and Zelenskyy had announced he would attend the meeting in-person, and expected the Russian leader to travel as well.
In a social media post, Zelenskyy wrote 'There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally.'
US President Donald Trump had also floated an idea of attending the meeting in Istanbul as he is on a four-day trip to Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. Though no confirmation had come from Trump administration whether the president would attend the meeting or not.
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