Donald Trump said on Monday, May 12, 2025 that “he considered” going to Türkiye on Thursday for possible Russian-Ukrainian discussions to which Volodymyr Zelensky invited Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin denies, on the other hand, to decide on the composition, if necessary, of the Russian delegation.
“I suppose there is a possibility, if I think things can happen,” the US president told journalists at the White House, shortly before his departure towards Saudi Arabia.
Zelensky wants Trump to be present for conversations
His Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky reacted immediately saying that he wanted Donald Trump to come to Istanbul. “I will be in Turkey. I hope the Russians do not avoid this meeting. And, of course, we all want in Ukraine that President Trump is there with us,” he wrote in a message posted on social networks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed these direct discussions between Russians and Ukrainians in Istanbul on Saturday. Then, Volodymyr Zelensky replied proposing to meet Vladimir Putin “in person” in this same city.
Since then, the Kremlin has not reacted to this offer of a Putin-Zellensky meeting. When asked Monday about the composition of a Russian delegation in Istanbul, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, kicked in contact and refused to comment.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who proposed to welcome the conversations between Ukraine and Russia, has said that “the window of opportunity” that has been opened “will not be lost.”
A high “complete and unconditional” fire in advance
kyiv and his European allies claimed during the weekend a high “complete and unconditional” fire of thirty days from Monday, a previous condition according to them for the discussions of direct peace between Ukraine and Russia, threatening Moscow of “mass sanctions” in case of rejection.
The Kremlin rejected this approach on Monday: “The language of the ultimatums is unacceptable for Russia,” said spokesman Dmitri Peskov during his daily session.
He then said that Moscow wanted “serious” negotiations to achieve a peace in the conflict, caused by the Russian invasion on a large scale of the Ukrainian territory in February 2022.
“Russia has not shown intention to progress”
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, as well as the EU Diplomacy Chief, Kaja Kallas, reiterated their request from a 30 -day truce on Monday to “create a space for discussions on fair, complete and lasting peace.”
“Until now, Russia has not shown a serious intention to progress. He must do it without delay,” they said in a statement published after a meeting in London.
Diplomatic negotiations have accelerated in the last three days, while indirect discussions between kyiv and Moscow, started in mid -February by Donald Trump, seemed to be dead.
Source: BFM TV
