Ukraine peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelensky in Turkey

Russia’s Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey on Thursday, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough.

The Russian president dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to take part in talks in Istanbul, while US President Donald Trump, on a tour of the Gulf, undercut the chances of major progress when he said there would be no movement in the absence of a meeting between himself and Putin.

Zelensky said Putin’s decision not to attend but to send what he called a “decorative” line-up showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war.

He said he himself would not go to Istanbul, but would send a team, headed by his defence minister, with a mandate to discuss a ceasefire. It was not clear when the talks would actually begin.

“We can’t be running around the world looking for Putin,” Zelensky said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

“I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation – this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump,” Zelensky told reporters.