‘Russians don't want peace': President Putin a no-show in Turkey leaving direct negotiations with Ukraine in a 'mess'
Russia has been accused of sabotaging direct negotiations with Ukraine after President Vladimir refused to travel to Turkey for talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Russian president had called for direct talks between the two countries, but while Ukraine's president travelled to Turkey on Thursday, the Kremlin chose to instead send a delegation of low level officials.
Ukraine's Yuri Sak, a Ministry of Strategic Industries adviser, said the decision showed the 'Russians don't want peace'.
'What we saw today in Turkey, of course, is a mess,' Mr Sak told Sky News Australia.
'It's a mess created by Russia, because they actually proposed this format. It was the leader of Kremlin, who himself said that it was time for direct negotiations.
'Ukraine has agreed to it. The European partners have supported this idea. The White House said it's a great idea, and we see no show on the Russian part.'
Ukraine and Russia have not held any direct talks since March 2022, shortly after Putin sent tanks over the border, beginning the first major land war in Europe since WWII.
But hopes of a major breakthrough appear unlikely, with US President Donald Trump declaring there wasn't likely to be any progress in the peace talks until he meets with his Russian counterpart.
'Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I meet', President Trump declared.
Prior to his taking office, the US President had confidently declared he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in a day.
But while the White House has put significant pressure on Ukraine to come to the table – creating a major rift within the Nato alliance – there have been few signs Russia is willing to compromise on its maximalist war aims.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, President Zelensky said his Russian counterpart had shown a lack of respect.
"I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation - this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan. To Trump," Zelensky told reporters.
The enemies have been wrestling for months over the logistics of ceasefires and peace talks while trying to show Trump they are serious about trying to end what he calls "this stupid war".
Ukraine has called for an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a truce could be discussed.
More than three years after its full-scale invasion, Russia has the advantage on the battlefield and says Ukraine could use a pause in the war to call up extra troops and acquire more Western weapons.
Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress.
Both Trump and Putin have said for months they are keen to meet each other, but no date has been set.
Trump, after piling heavy pressure on Ukraine and clashing with Zelensky in the Oval Office in February, has lately expressed growing impatience that Putin may be "tapping me along".
Referring to the current state of the talks as a "logjam", US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would travel to Istanbul to meet with Turkey's foreign minister and with Ukraine's delegation on Friday.
Russia has accused Ukraine of trying "to put on a show" around the talks.
The Russian delegation is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister who has overseen the rewriting of history textbooks to reflect Moscow's narrative on the war.
It includes a deputy defence minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of military intelligence.
Once they start, the talks will have to address a chasm between the two sides over a host of issues.
The terms under discussion in 2022, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia's initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for deep cuts to the size of Ukraine's military.
With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.
Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.
- With Reuters
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