Ukraine’s Zelensky insists on face-to-face talks with Russia’s Putin in Istanbul

KYIV - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 13 he would attend talks with Russia on the war in Ukraine this week only if Vladimir Putin is also there, and goaded him by saying the Russian leader was scared to meet him face-to-face.

The Kremlin has yet to say whether Mr Putin will take part in the talks scheduled to be held in Istanbul on May 15, more than three years into the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

The planned talks have become the main focus of peace efforts led by US President Donald Trump, who said he would send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and has also offered to attend.

Mr Trump is also sending senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, three sources familiar with the plans said.

Mr Zelensky said he wanted to negotiate an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a step towards ending the war, and that Mr Putin should take part in talks because “absolutely everything in Russia” depends on him.

“We want to agree on a beginning to the end of the war,” Mr Zelensky told a press conference. But he added: “He (Putin) is scared of direct talks with me.”

Mr Zelensky said he expected the US and EU to impose “strong sanctions” if the talks did not take place.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have sought to show they are working towards peace after Mr Trump prioritised ending the war, which has raged since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but have yet to agree any clear path. Russian bombs killed at least three people in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on May 13, a local official said.

Mr Putin on May 11 proposed direct talks with Ukraine, after ignoring a Ukrainian offer for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Mr Trump publicly told Mr Zelensky to accept the proposal.

The Ukrainian leader then said he would be waiting for Mr Putin in Istanbul on May 15, though the Kremlin chief had never made clear he intended to travel himself.

Asked who would represent Russia at the talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “As soon as the president sees fit, we will announce it.”

Trump may attend

During a speech in Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump said Mr Rubio would attend the talks on May 15, as well as others. “We’ll see if we can get it done,” he said.

General Kellogg, in an earlier interview on Fox Business Network, said Mr Trump would join the talks in Istanbul if Mr Putin showed up.

“We’re hoping President Putin shows up as well, and then President Trump will be there. This could be an absolutely incredible meeting,” he said. “We can get peace, I really believe, pretty fast if all three leaders sit down and talk.”

Newly elected Pope Leo promised Mr Zelensky on May 12 he would do his best to help bring about a just and lasting peace, a Zelensky aide said.

Reuters reported in 2024 that Mr Putin was open to discussing a ceasefire with Mr Trump but that Moscow ruled out making any major territorial concessions and demanded that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join Nato.

Ukraine has said it is ready for talks but a ceasefire is needed first, a position supported by its European allies.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Moscow was ready for serious talks on Ukraine but doubted Kyiv’s capacity for negotiations.

The agencies quoted him as saying realities “on the ground” should be recognised, including the incorporation of what Moscow calls “new territories” into Russia - a reference to territory in Ukraine that is occupied by Russian forces.

US officials want Russia to agree to a comprehensive 30-day land, air, sea and critical infrastructure ceasefire, a senior US official said.