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Donald Trump has mentioned that “nothing goes to occur” on a Russia-Ukraine peace deal till he and Vladimir Putin meet, dampening expectations for talks between Russian and Ukrainian ministers due in Turkey.
The US president’s feedback threatened to thrust the newest peace efforts into disarray, as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators had been set to satisfy for the primary time since 2022.
“Look, nothing’s going to occur till Putin and I get collectively, OK?” Trump instructed reporters on Air Drive One earlier than touchdown within the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as a part of his Center East tour. He mentioned that Putin “clearly . . . wasn’t going to go” except the US president was additionally in attendance.
Trump had beforehand mentioned he was open to taking a detour for the talks in Turkey, however determined to not after the Russian president made clear within the eleventh hour that he wouldn’t attend.
“I don’t imagine something’s going to occur, whether or not you prefer it or not, till he and I get collectively,” Trump mentioned on Thursday. “However we’re going to need to get it solved as a result of too many individuals are dying.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned {that a} ceasefire may very well be reached if technical talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul may agree to 1. The objective was “to try no less than the primary steps in the direction of de-escalation, the primary steps in the direction of ending the warfare — specifically, a ceasefire”.
Zelenskyy, who travelled to Ankara on Thursday, had beforehand supplied to satisfy, however solely with Putin. Upon arrival in Turkey, he dismissed the Russian delegation as “stand-in props”, questioning the seniority of its members and “whether or not they could make any selections”.
The Russian president, who final week had floated the thought of resuming direct talks with the Ukrainian facet, late on Wednesday confirmed he wouldn’t attend and as an alternative dispatched his lesser-known adviser, former tradition minister Vladimir Medinsky, together with different officers.
Russia beforehand despatched prime degree diplomats together with overseas minister Sergei Lavrov to negotiations with the US in Riyadh.
Medinsky led Russia’s delegation to talks in Istanbul with Ukraine in early 2022, which made some headway earlier than breaking down in acrimony, and Moscow has been eager to current the present talks as a “restart” of these negotiations.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations arrived in Istanbul and Ankara, with no clear indication the place they might meet or what their negotiating mandate was.
Zelenskyy confirmed later within the day that his defence minister, Rustem Umerov, would lead his delegation.
He urged western allies to extend the strain on Russia, together with by making use of harsher sanctions if it continued to tug its toes on an unconditional ceasefire.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius mentioned that it appeared that Putin was “attempting to guide the American president round by the nostril” by refusing to show up in Istanbul.
“I’m fairly positive that the American president can’t be joyful about that,” Pistorius instructed a information convention in Berlin. He insisted that there was a “Plan B” if the European technique of threatening extra sanctions failed, however mentioned that “we can’t publicly speak about Plan B and C earlier than it’s clear what has occurred to plan A”.
The White Home mentioned earlier this week that Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio and the US’s particular envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, would journey to Turkey to take part within the talks.
Further reporting by Laura Pitel in Berlin
