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U.S. President Donald Trump won’t travel to Turkey on Thursday for proposed direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, a U.S. official said, which Russian President Vladimir Putin will evidently not be attending.
The official spoke after Putin announced the Russian delegation for the talks, a list that did not include the Russian leader himself. Trump had toyed with the idea of going to Turkey if Putin would be there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was reported to be en route to the Turkish capital of Ankara. “We’re on the way,” a senior Ukrainian official, who asked not to be identified owing to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters late Wednesday.
Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday “without any preconditions.”
Trump earlier this week urged Ukraine to attend the talks and Zelenskyy quickly said he would be therebut only if Putin showed up, setting up a diplomatic standoff as part of an apparent contest to show Trump who wants peace more.
Threat of more sanctions
The U.S. and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting in Ukraine.
LISTEN | Questions loom ahead of proposed Russia-Ukraine talks:
Metro Morning7:12Could a face-to-face meeting happen between Zelensky and Putin?
Ukraine’s president says he is ready to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for ceasefire talks this week — on the condition that a pause in fighting starts today. I speak to global affairs analyst Michael Borciukiw, about the latest in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Democratic Congressman Jim Himes told CNN that he saw no reason for Trump — or Zelenskyy — to be in Turkey if Putin would not be going.
“I think everybody understands that Putin is not interested in real peace negotiations,” said Himes, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives’ intelligence committee.
Himes said “the real question” now is how Trump should adjust the U.S. stance on Russia.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The UN says the conflict has since killed at least 12,700 civiliansand injured more than 30,000 others.
Before returning to the Oval Office, Trump had, on multiple occasions, claimed that he could end the war in 24 hours. More than three months into his new presidency, the war continues.
