Russia-Ukraine Talks: Trump Keeps Door Open to Turkey Trip
President Donald Trump said he is still willing to travel to Turkey on Friday if enough progress is made in the Istanbul peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
"I was thinking about going...If something happened, I'd go on Friday if it was appropriate," Trump said during his visit to Qatar.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Ankara and said he is willing to meet for face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Putin has not so far taken up the offer, sending instead a lower-level delegation for the Istanbul negotiations with Ukraine on Thursday, the first set of direct talks between the warring countries in more than three years.
"I actually said, why would he go if I'm not going? Because I wasn't going to go," Trump told reporters in Qatar when asked about Putin's lack of attendance.
"I wasn't planning to go. I would go. But I wasn't planning to go. And I said I don't think he's going to go if I don't go, and that turned out to be right. But we have people there...I didn't think it was possible for Putin to go if I'm not there."
Trump had previously demanded that substantial progress be made towards peace or he would walk away from brokering the process.
He wants a swift end to the war, citing the vast death and destruction, and the burden on American taxpayers of funding Ukraine's defense through military aid.
"We think we're going to do well with Russia-Ukraine. Five thousand soldiers are being killed every single week on average. Five thousand...They are wiped out," Trump said.
"If you see the satellite pictures. I get satellite pictures of that battlefield and I want to tell you, I've never seen anything like that. I wish I never saw it. You have heads and arms and legs strewn all over the field...So we're going to see if we can end that."
This is a breaking news story and more information will be added soon.
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