US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were still “maybes” for what could be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years after the Kremlin yesterday held off disclosing who would represent Russia.
Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul today “without any preconditions”. But he did not say who would be attending from Moscow’s side and his spokesman was unable to give further details on the matter yesterday.
Trump earlier this week urged Ukraine to attend the talks and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy quickly said he would be there, but only if Putin showed up, setting up a diplomatic standoff as part of an apparent contest to show Trump who wants peace more.
Trump said yesterday he himself was still considering whether to attend the talks in Türkiye but did not know whether Putin would go, something that Zelenskiy has challenged the Kremlin leader to do “if he’s not afraid”.
“(Putin) would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility... I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there. We’re going to find out,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar.
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