Russia will send Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and russian president vladimir putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov to the planned peace talks in Turkey. The arrival of vladimir putin himself is currently considered unlikely.
This was reported by The Washington Post, citing a former senior Kremlin official.
The American side in Istanbul will be represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg. According to Kellogg, Donald Trump is ready to personally attend the talks - but only on the condition that putin is present.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously invited putin to personally participate in the talks, but there has been no official response from the Kremlin yet. On May 13, Zelenskyy said that putin's refusal to attend would be the final evidence of russia's unwillingness to end the war. In his opinion, in this case, the US and Europe should introduce new sanctions against russia.
The US expressed hope that the russian leader will still take part in the meeting. As Keith Kellogg noted, the Trump team has already prepared a list of main topics for discussion - the key one is the ceasefire.
Other issues that are planned to be raised include: the status of the territories of Ukraine occupied by russia, the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the prospect of Ukraine's membership in NATO, the return of deported Ukrainian children, as well as the possibility of introducing Western peacekeeping contingents.
As a reminder, on May 11, russian dictator vladimir putin publicly stated russia's alleged readiness for bilateral talks with Ukraine. He proposed holding them in Turkey this Thursday, May 15.
Zelenskyy said that he would personally wait for putin for bilateral talks.
In addition, Trump admitted that he may visit Turkey on May 15 to participate in the talks between Zelenskyy and putin.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.