President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that “nothing’s gonna happen” in the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia until he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Fox News, while Putin had initially proposed restarting direct peace talks with Ukraine on Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey, and had been challenged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet in person, the Kremlin confirmed that it would be sending a delegation led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin aide, and three other Russian officials instead of a delegation led by Putin.
Fox News reported that Trump confirmed on Thursday that he would not be attending the Istanbul peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this week due to scheduling conflicts. The outlet noted that Trump also dismissed Putin’s decision not to attend by suggesting that the Russian president would not attend the peace talks unless Trump was planning on being a part of the negotiations.
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Asked if he was “disappointed in the level of the delegation that the Russians sent to Turkey,” by a reporter on Air Force One on Thursday, Trump said, “I don’t know anything about it.”
“Look, nothing’s gonna happen until Putin and I get together, okay?” Trump added. “He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there, and I don’t believe anything’s going to happen whether you like it or not until he and I get together. But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”
According to NBC News, Putin’s initial suggestion that Russia and Ukraine hold a meeting to restart direct peace talks between the two nations came after Ukrainian allies, including Britain, France, and Germany, placed pressure on Russia to agree to a ceasefire proposal or face more sanctions. Putin had called for negotiations “without any preconditions” instead of agreeing to a ceasefire.
In a Thursday post on X, formerly Twitter, Zelensky addressed Putin’s decision not to attend the peace talks in Istanbul, saying, “Today, Russia once again demonstrated that it does not intend to end the war, having sent a delegation of rather low-level representatives. Moreover, such a Russian approach is a sign of disrespect — toward the world and all partners. We expect a clear and strong response from partners.”
