Ankara (Turkey)/Washington, , May 15, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear in Turkey on Thursday for proposed direct peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy, who was waiting in Ankara after publicly challenging the Kremlin leader to face-to-face negotiations to end their three-year-old war, was left without a counterpart.
In Putin’s absence, a Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul, but it remained unclear whether any meetings would take place, potentially the first since March 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a month earlier.
Zelenskyy dismissed the Russian delegation as merely “decorative,” casting doubt on Moscow’s commitment to genuine negotiations.
Speaking at the airport in Ankara, Zelenskyy said the next steps in the peace process would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who welcomed him with an honour guard at the presidential palace.
Putin’s no-show dealt a blow to renewed hopes for peace, which had recently gained momentum with support from the President Donald Trump administration and Western European leaders.
It also raised the likelihood of new international sanctions on Russia, which Western nations had warned could follow if progress stalled.
Meanwhile, President Trump said on Thursday that no progress would be made on the Ukraine peace process until he meets directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I am not disappointed in anything. I know nothing about a delegation. I haven’t even checked,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in response to a question about the composition of the Russian delegation for the Istanbul talks.
“Look, nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together, okay?” he added.
Trump also suggested that Putin did not attend the talks because he believed Trump would not be there either.
“He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. He was not going if I was not there. And I don’t believe anything is going to happen until he and I get together.”
