“Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies. And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process,” said Zelensky, speaking to a small group of journalists, including the Guardian, in his office at the presidential administration in Kyiv.
Zelensky stated he would travel to Turkey on Thursday whether or not Putin flew in for talks.
Zelensky added he had arranged to meet with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara, but would be ready to fly to Istanbul at a moment’s notice if the Russian leader showed up.
“If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,” he stressed on Tuesday.
Previously, after Putin used an unexpected late-night Kremlin address to call for direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul, Zelensky responded by saying he would be waiting for Putin personally in Turkey on Thursday.
Trump, who is on a visit to Saudi Arabia, appeared to float the idea of a three-way meeting with Putin and Zelensky, saying on Monday: “I believe the two leaders are going to be there. I was thinking about flying over.”
Zelenskyy stated he was hoping Trump would indeed meet him in Turkey.
“If Trump travels, it will push Putin also to travel,” he continued, adding, “Trump can really help. It’s the situation where the US being present can give important guarantees.”
However, there is little sign that Putin is prepared to travel. Although he has not directly ruled it out, comments from the Kremlin suggest Russia will instead send a lower-level negotiating team to Istanbul.
Zelensky noted he believed that without a ceasefire agreed by the leaders, there was no point in beginning lower-level talks.
The back-and-forth diplomacy began with a visit to Kyiv by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland on Saturday, timed symbolically to come just one day after a set-piece military parade in Moscow marking 80 years since the Soviet victory in the second world war. After speaking with Trump on the phone, the four European leaders laid down an ultimatum to Putin that he should sign up to a 30-day ceasefire by Monday or face further sanctions. Putin rejected the ultimatum, instead offering the Istanbul talks without a ceasefire.
In the event that nothing is agreed during whatever meetings take place in Turkey this week, the big question is whether the Europeans can bring Trump along with them in their plans to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow. Zelensky said he hoped that new sanctions would soon be on the agenda if Thursday’s meetings came to nothing.
“I believe that President Trump is not against imposing sanctions … and I believe that there is political will in Congress to vote for these sanctions. I believe the Americans are very close to imposing these sanctions,” he continued.
He added that consultations would take place in the coming days – “if you’ll allow me, I won’t say where or when” – in which Europeans would be briefed on upcoming US sanctions plans.
President Trump said Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Istanbul for potential Thursday talks between Zelensky and Putin.
“I’ve also been working relentlessly to end the terrible bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine and, very importantly, talks are being held in Turkey later this week, probably on Thursday, and they could produce some pretty good results,” Trump stated during remarks at a Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Whether Trump attends or not, US envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff both plan to be in Istanbul for the talks, a senior administration official stated.
