Russian delegation arrives in Turkey for Ukraine war talks without Putin but Zelenskyy is on his way

ISTANBUL Turkey AP Russia s delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced Thursday and a Ukrainian official declared a delegation including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on its way the the Turkish capital Ankara Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow however according to a list published by the Kremlin Wednesday night prompting criticism from Western authorities that the Kremlin isn t serious about the peace effort Vladimir Medinsky an aide to Putin will lead the Russian delegation that will also include three other senior bureaucrats the Kremlin disclosed Putin also appointed four lower-level officers as experts for the talks Earlier this week Zelenskyy challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkey to talk about ending the more than three-year war Zelenskyy announced he would advance to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Putin A Ukrainian delegation including Zelenskyy was due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter stated The Associated Press Also in the delegation are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak the official declared He spoke on condition of anonymity for prevention reasons as the gang had not yet arrived in Ankara Now after three years of immense suffering there is at last a window of opportunity Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter But Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with Putin Ukraine s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak declared Details about whether when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Zelenskyy and Erdogan meet according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day s plan Tass reported that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus Moscow offered talks instead of a ceasefire Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior executive executives and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov disclosed Defense Minister Andrei Belousov General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov and National Safeguard Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting among others Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full unconditional -day ceasefire as a first step toward peace Putin effectively rejected the proposal offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead The Kremlin billed Thursday s talks as a restart of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in but rapidly fell apart Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting while Kyiv commented Russia s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on Russia s delegation then was also headed by Vladimir Medinsky Putin s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by U S President Donald Trump who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly The Trump administration in current weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul but stated Thursday he wasn t surprised that Putin was a no-show He brushed off Putin s decision to not take part in the talks I didn t think it was attainable for Putin to go if I m not there Trump declared during a roundtable in Doha Qatar The U S and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting NATO ministers back Ukraine Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with U S State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense outlay goals as the U S shifts its focus to shield challenges away from Europe Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine s patronage for Trump s mediation efforts and thanked the U S for its continued involvement urging Moscow to reciprocate Ukraine s constructive initiatives toward peace So far it has not Sybiha noted On Thursday morning Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers including his French counterpart Jean-No l Barrot who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of massive sanctions if Russia doesn t comply We re in a very demanding spot right now and we hope that we can find the actions forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future Rubio noted Thursday Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen also in Antalya for the NATO talks accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process We have one chair empty which is the chair of Vladimir Putin So now I guess the entire world has realized that there s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations and that certainly is Russia Valtonen stated Barrot echoed her sentiment In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin he revealed Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions