Newsletters
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Istanbul summit, as he approved on late Wednesday the composition of his delegation for Ukraine talks scheduled in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15.
The Kremlin named four negotiators, including a hawkish former culture minister, and four experts for the talks set to take place Thursday in Istanbul, as Putin signed an order on the composition of his country’s delegation.
The order, posted on the Kremlin website, states that the delegation will be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and will include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Director of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
Medinsky is seen as influential in advancing Russia's historical claims over swathes of Ukraine and has authored textbooks promoting a nationalist view of Russian history, which independent historians have questioned.
Meanwhile, the statement also approved a composition of experts for the negotiations. “This order shall enter into force on the date of its signing,” it added.
Putin was not on a list of negotiators the Kremlin published for talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday, despite Kyiv insisting he attend and some allies calling on him to attend.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered to go to Türkiye if Putin also attended. Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected in Istanbul on Friday for part of the talks.
"I don't know that he (Putin) would be there if I'm not there," Trump told reporters during his Middle East tour.
"I know he would like me to be there, and that's a possibility. If we could end the war, I'd be thinking about that," he said. Trump also noted that he had a packed schedule but added, "That doesn't mean I wouldn't do it to save a lot of lives."
The meeting follows Putin’s proposal for direct talks during a Sunday press conference in Moscow. He rejected a 30-day cease-fire initiative backed by Ukraine and its Western allies, a plan Kyiv says Russia has “completely ignored.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed his attendance at the Istanbul talks. In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to facilitating a just and lasting peace, emphasizing Ankara’s readiness to host and support the negotiations.
Additionally, Erdogan, who spoke with Putin by phone earlier this week, reaffirmed Türkiye’s readiness to host the negotiations and urged all sides to seize what he called a “window of opportunity” for peace.
Previous peace efforts in Istanbul, including a round of failed negotiations in April 2022 just two months after the war began, are widely seen as a missed opportunity.
The Istanbul meeting would be the highest-level face-to-face engagement between Russia and Ukraine in over a year. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. Russian forces currently occupy about one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
1 min read
1 min read
