Ukraine ( Europe Brief News): The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he is sending his defence minister and a group to Istanbul for the first direct negotiations with a Russian delegation after the war began in February 2022.
President Zelenskyy made the statement on Thursday after the Kremlin said Putin would be sending a junior delegation to Türkiye for talks, which was described by Estonian FM Tsahkna as an insult. At a news conference in Ankara, Zelenskyy pointed out that there were no significant figures among the Russians, and Moscow was not trying to end the fighting, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Kremlin Sends Junior Delegation, Putin Declines Meeting
The Ukrainian team, led by Rustem Umerov, the Minister of Defence, will focus on discussing how to bring about the first steps towards lessening the conflict and ending the war, which means agreeing to a ceasefire. The date for the next delegation meetings was not clear at the beginning.
Zelenskyy decided to choose a well-balanced group with the Russian delegation and stated they are ready to start peace talks right away if there was an immediate ceasefire. But Chung explained that the delegation is not authorised to make any decisions, meaning the discussions would probably be technical.
“Nothing’s going to happen until Russian President Vladimir Putin and I get together, OK?”
Trump said on board Air Force One just before landing in Dubai on the third stop of his Middle East trip.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there.”
Regarding Putin’s absence from the meeting, US President Trump said it did not concern him.
“We won’t get anywhere until Vladimir Putin and I hold talks,”
Biden said, adding that
“I didn’t think Putin was able to attend without my presence at the meeting.”
The lack of Putin at the meeting held back progress in truce negotiations, which had made good progress thanks to Trump and Western Europe in recent months. It might lead to further sanctions against the country from the international community.
“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkiye.
“The talks … hopefully may open a new chapter.”
