I’ll only join Ukraine-Russia talks if Putin is present -Zelensky

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the stakes ahead of a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday by saying he wouldn’t hold talks with any Russian representative other than the president himself.

Zelensky said he would travel to Turkey after US President Donald Trump urged him to meet Putin. The Russian leader suggested direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in the country on Thursday in response to the ceasefire-or-sanctions ultimatum given to Moscow by Kyiv’s European allies on Saturday.

Asked by CNN about the goals of the possible meeting – a summit Putin has not yet agreed to attend despite proposing it himself – Zelensky said anything other than a ceasefire agreement would be a failure.

Trump said he was open to going to Turkey, but the Kremlin has so far refused to say whether Putin – or anyone else – would go. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin would announce his decision in due course. “As soon as the president considers it necessary, we will announce it,” Peskov said.

Zelensky said he would not consider meeting any other Russian representatives because “everything in Russia depends” on Putin.

“So I said that on (Thursday) I will go to Turkey and I’m ready to meet Putin and an end to the war was through direct talks with him,” Zelensky told reporters at a news conference.

Zelensky also said he offered Trump the option of joining the meeting, saying the presence of the US president would “give additional impulse for Putin to fly in.”

He said earlier that his country “would appreciate” Trump’s attendance, and said he supported the US president’s call for direct talks between himself and Putin.

Credit: cnn.com

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