ANKARA, Turkey (AP) 鈥� Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their in three years, both countries said Thursday, but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey.
Zelenskyy said he is sending a team headed by his defense minister from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul to meet a Russian delegation, even though Moscow's side doesn鈥檛 include 鈥渁nyone who actually makes decisions.鈥�
The Ukrainian side would be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and its aim is 鈥渢o attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war 鈥� namely, a ceasefire,鈥� he said.
Few had expected Putin to show up in Turkey, and his absence punctured any hope of significant progress toward ending the amid peace efforts in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.
Zelenskyy, who flew Thursday to Ankara after challenging Putin to sit down with him, accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as 鈥渁 theater prop.鈥�
His proposal to Putin came amid a flurry of maneuvering last weekend as each side sought a diplomatic advantage.
Zelenskyy said he decided to send the delegation to Istanbul to demonstrate to that Ukraine wants to end the fighting.
The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N. Russian forces are preparing , Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.
At least five civilians were killed and 29 wounded in the past day, according to authorities in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia is trying to advance.
The head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, said in Istanbul that the representatives were ready to meet Ukrainian officials.
鈥淭he task of these direct negotiations with Ukraine is to establish long-term peace sooner or later by eliminating the root causes of this conflict,鈥� he said in a brief statement.
It was not clear when they would meet. The Russian state news agency Tass reported that the talks will go ahead Friday, citing an unidentified source.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would confer Friday in Istanbul with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Ukrainian delegation, adding that the Russian delegation would be meeting with other members of the U.S. team and that he hoped all sides could get together.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow. And frankly, at this point, I think it鈥檚 abundantly clear that the only way we鈥檙e going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin,鈥� Rubio told reporters in Antalya, Turkey, where he was attending a .
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier welcomed Zelenskyy to the presidential palace in Ankara for their own talks. Zelenskyy heads Friday to Albania for a gathering of European officials.
Weekend maneuvers
The diplomatic maneuvering began Saturday when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a as a first step toward peace. Putin responded early Sunday by with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then came Zelenskyy's challenge to Putin for face-to-face talks.
After days of silence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov finally said Thursday that Putin had no plans to travel to Istanbul in the next few days.
Trump said he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show. He had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off the Kremlin leader鈥檚 decision not to attend.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it was possible for Putin to go if I鈥檓 not there,鈥� Trump told reporters in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.
Trump said a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe anything鈥檚 going to happen whether you like it or not, until (Putin) and I get together,鈥� he said on Air Force One while traveling from Doha to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.鈥�
Peskov said Putin has no plans to meet with Trump in the coming days.
Medinsky, Putin's aide, is leading the Russian team that also includes three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as 鈥渆xperts鈥� for the talks in Istanbul.
Also absent from the talks were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin鈥檚 foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, both of whom represented Russia at in March.
The top-level Ukrainian delegation included Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official said. Zelenskyy will sit at the negotiating table only with Putin, said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
Putin met Wednesday with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended.
Russia calls the talks a 鈥榬estart鈥�
The Kremlin billed the Istanbul talks as a 鈥渞estart鈥� of peace negotiations held there in 2022 that quickly collapsed. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia鈥檚 demands amounted to an ultimatum, not something both sides could agree on. That delegation also was also headed by Medinsky.
Putin's proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kick-started by Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the war swiftly, . The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated it might walk away from the effort if there was no tangible progress soon.
Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, met with Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night in Antalya.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine鈥檚 support for and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to 鈥渞eciprocate Ukraine鈥檚 constructive steps鈥� toward peace. "So far, it has not,鈥� Sybiha said.
On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart, Jean-No毛l Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of 鈥渕assive sanctions鈥� if Russia doesn't comply.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future," Rubio said Thursday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of 鈥渟tanding in the way of peace.鈥�
鈥淭here was only one country that started this conflict 鈥� that was Russia. That was Putin. There鈥檚 only one country now standing in the way of peace 鈥� that is Russia. That is Putin,鈥� he said in a visit to Tirana, Albania.
Barrot echoed that sentiment: 鈥淚n front of Ukrainians, there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,鈥� he said. Putin "is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Aamer Madhani in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Mehmet Guzel, Hanna Arhirova And Suzan Fraser, The Associated Press
