Vladimir Putin to skip direct peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey
Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to skip the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, with the Kremlin announcing the names of officials who will be part of its delegation.
The delegation would be led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky and consist of deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin, deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin, and Igor Kostyukov, who is the head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
Additionally, Putin has also designated a group of experts to support the talks, including the deputy head of the defence ministry's international military cooperation directorate.
The peace talks with Ukraine will resume in Turkey's Istanbul on Thursday, confirmed Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, as per the Russian news agency TASS.
Earlier on Sunday, Putin had proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine "without any preconditions".
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky had challenged his Russian counterpart to attend the talks "if he's not afraid", in his bid to show Trump who wants peace more, Ukraine or Russia.
Zelensky on Wednesday said that Ukraine would decide on its steps for peace talks in Turkey once there was clarity on Putin's participation in the discussions. "The answers to all questions about this war–why it started, why it continues–all these answers are in Moscow," he said, adding that "how the war will end depends on the world".
Meanwhile, a US official also said that US President Donald Trump, who is on a three-nation visit to the Middle East, would not attend the talks in Turkey, a Reuters report said.
Trump had earlier said that he was considering taking part in the Russia-Ukraine talks.
The US President had expressed his wish for both countries to sign a 30-day ceasefire deal to pause the more than three-year-long war. Zelensky had backed the immediate cessation proposal but Putin had said that he first wants to start talks wherein the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.
Meanwhile, a Russian lawmaker reportedly said that at the negotiations in Istanbul, there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war exchange.
The US delegation to Turkey includes State Secretary Marco Rubio and Trump's senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
The last direct talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul in March 2022, just a month after Moscow invaded Kyiv in what Putin termed as a "special military operation" to root out neo-Nazis.
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