Russian President Vladimir Putin is not going to Istanbul to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, according to the Kremlin.
Late Wednesday evening, the Kremlin finally announced who would represent Moscow at what was supposed to be the first direct talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.
The Russian delegation will be led by Putin’s presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who represented Moscow at the first attempt at talks in Istanbul in March 2022.
Apart from Medinsky, Russia will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU).
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not be travelling to Turkey either.
Moscow waited until the end of the day on Wednesday to announce who would attend the Istanbul talks with Ukraine.
Over the past weekend, Putin suggested that Russia and Ukraine should sit down for direct talks. Ukraine’s president promptly responded that he would travel to Istanbul himself to meet with Putin for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
In his evening address on Wednesday, released before the Kremlin announced the delegation line-up, Zelenskyy said he was waiting for the final list before deciding on Ukraine’s course of action.
Ukraine’s president said Kyiv had several meetings regarding the format of the meeting in Turkey, adding, “I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will determine what steps Ukraine should take. So far, their signals in the media are unconvincing.”
US President Donald Trump said over the past few days that he was considering coming to Istanbul to attend the meeting. Zelenskyy said the presence of the US president could be “the strongest argument”.
“A week can really change a lot – but it may not. Right now, all of this is being decided,” he stated before the Kremlin announced its delegation.
Earlier, Trump said the US may introduce additional, tougher sanctions against Moscow if it doesn’t reach an agreement with Kyiv to put an end to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.