Highly anticipated talks between Russia and Ukraine – two countries locked in a bloody conflict for more than a decade – could still take place in Turkey on Thursday, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to skip the summit.
The Kremlin announced on Thursday that Putin would not travel to Turkey after days of speculation that the Russian leader could show up for a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Delegations from both Russia and Ukraine are currently in Turkey, although there has been no official confirmation on when or whether they would meet.
Here is what we do – and don’t – know:
Timings disputed: The Russian state news agency Tass reported earlier on Thursday that the talks were set to start in Istanbul at 10 a.m. local time, a report that was dismissed by the Ukrainians as “fake news.”
The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova then said the meeting was postponed to the afternoon – a statement disputed by the hosts, the Turkish government, which said no talks were officially scheduled and therefore could not have been postponed.
Who’s in Turkey? The Russian delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, Putin’s senior aide and a hardliner who led the Russian side during the last known direct talks between the two countries in the spring of 2022.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday morning that Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had arrived to Ankara. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in the Turkish capital where he is meeting the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ukrainian leader said he would make a decision on whether to travel to Istanbul after meeting Erdogan.
US presence: Several top US officials are also in Turkey. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived to the coastal city of Antalya on Wednesday. He is attending an informal meeting of the NATO foreign ministers there.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and his foreign envoy Steve Witkoff both plan to be in Istanbul for the talks, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday, a statement confirmed by another source familiar with the plans.
Trump weighs in: US President Donald Trump, who urged Zelensky to meet Putin after the Russian leader suggested the talks, told reporters on Thursday that when it comes to peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, “nothing is going to happen until” he meets with Putin.
How did we get here? Putin called for direct talks at the weekend, having rejected a call from Kyiv its allies for a 30-day truce. Zelensky quickly said he was ready to meet, following it up by saying that he would not meet any other Russian official apart from Putin.
