Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Russia was not serious about making peace, as talks on a ceasefire failed to start in Turkey.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to Istanbul for talks, scotching hopes of a breakthrough meeting with Mr Zelenskyy or even US President Donald Trump.
About 400km away, Mr Zelenskyy said Russia lacked seriousness and was behaving disrespectfully in negotiations over ending the war, even though they were initially proposed by Mr Putin.
Ukrainian officials have travelled to Istanbul for meetings in a delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, Mr Zelenskyy told reporters from the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara, after meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
But US and Turkish mediators had been disrespected by the Russian delegation’s relatively low level of seniority and the lack of communication over the focus of talks aiming to end the three-year conflict, he said.
“No agenda, no timings, no high-level delegation – I think that is disrespect, to presidents Trump and Erdogan,” he said. “There is disrespect to all parties of these talks.”
Mr Erdogan did not comment on the claims directly, but a statement from his office after the meeting said that the conflict requires "a solution through direct negotiations." Turkey would be "pleased to host the leaders of the two countries when they are ready", it added.
Ukraine does not want to be accused of a lack of willingness in the talks, said Mr Zelenskyy, who sent a delegation to show respect to US and Turkish mediators, who he said were “trying to take steps towards de-escalation”, the Ukrainian leader said.
There had been speculation about talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since Sunday, when Mr Putin called for meetings in Istanbul to “remove the root causes of the conflict”. Mr Zelenskyy had previously said he was willing to meet, but signalled that he would only do so if Mr Putin himself turned up.
The Ukrainian President would not travel to Istanbul because his Russian counterpart had shunned the talks, he said. Moscow’s delegation is instead being led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, and deputy ministers. Senior figures including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were absent.
“For me there will be nothing to do there because Putin is not there,” Mr Zelenskyy said. He said the leaders’ presence was not necessary to take steps towards ending the war – again appearing to put the ball in Russia’s court to engage even without Putin’s participation.
“There must be first steps to stop the killing, and that is a full and unconditional ceasefire,” Mr Zelenskyy said. “Leaders are not needed to agree that, but there must be political will.”
On Russia’s side, the delegation is “determined to be constructive, to search for possible solutions and common ground”, Mr Medinsky told Russian state broadcaster Rossiya 24. “We are ready to work, to resume the Istanbul talks. We are ready for possible compromises, to discuss them.”
The timing of any Ukraine-Russia meetings remains unclear, with Mr Zelenskyy saying that his team had already been dispatched so they would be ready for talks either tonight or tomorrow. The Turkish and US foreign ministers have been in the Turkish resort city of Antalya for a Nato summit, at which the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also met his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha.
“A ceasefire is number one thing on the agenda, that is their mandate, but I still believe that Russia does not take these meetings seriously,” Mr Zelenskyy said. “The meeting can happen today or tomorrow, we have done everything we can; everyone is waiting for demonstrations of signs from the Russian side.”
Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish delegations will meet during talks in Istanbul on Friday in a “tripartite” meeting, a foreign ministry official told journalists.
The US delegation, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would also meet with the Ukrainian and Turkish teams. It was unclear if there would be a four-way meeting between all sides, the official added.
Hours earlier, Mr Zelenskyy had said he was unsure if there would be direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
Moscow has framed the talks in Istanbul as a continuation of negotiations that took place in the early days after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which failed to reach an agreement before collapsing. Commenting on the Istanbul talks from Moscow, Mr Lavrov described what is happening in the city as “an intrigue”, the Russian state news agency Tass reported. "Problems are bound to happen, as it was three years ago in Istanbul,” he added.
Mr Trump has dispatched senior envoys to Turkey for involvement in the Russia-Ukraine talks. The US leader, who is currently touring the Gulf, previously said he would “maybe” join the talks too, although later said his schedule made it unlikely.
If no decisions emerge from the talks in Istanbul, western nations should impose more sanctions on Moscow to push them into ending the war, or “to expedite our discussions”, Mr Zelenskyy said. “We want a strong package of sanctions,” he said.
Significant differences remain between Russia and Ukraine on how the conflict should end. Moscow wants international recognition of its sovereignty over four areas of Ukraine’s territory, for Kyiv to end its ambitions to join Nato. It believes that any temporary ceasefire would be used by Ukraine to rearm and re-equip.
Ukraine wants guarantees of its security from Western partners and for the possibility of it joining Nato to remain open. It refuses Russian control of areas that Moscow has taken, including Crimea – a position Mr Zelenskyy reiterated again on Thursday in Ankara.
“We will not legally recognise the occupied territories as Russian,” he said. “These are Ukrainian territories.”
