THE Volodimir Zelenski He is traveling to Ankara, the Ukraine embassy in Turkey announced this afternoon (13.05.2025), in view of possible talks with the Russian president Vladimir Putin In Istanbul the tomorrow, Thursday.
Volodimir Zelenski told Kiev a press conference that he would first meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks and head to Constantinople if Vladimir Putin will be there for talks.
Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenski said on Tuesday that he would wait for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold private talks on the three -year war, amid strong pressures by US and Europe leaders.
Putin has not yet stated whether he will attend the talks in which President Trump has urged both sides to attend Washington’s efforts to stop fighting.
Zelenski told reporters in Kiev that he will be in Ankara on Thursday to conduct the negotiations. He will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two will be waiting for Putin’s arrival, he said.
He stressed that ‘he will do everything to agree on a ceasefire of fire because with [τον Πούτιν] I have to negotiate a ceasefire, as only he can decide for her. “
“If Putin does not arrive and play games, it is the last point that he does not want to end the war,” Zelenski added.
The Ukrainian leader said that if Putin does not appear, European and American leaders should apply their threats to additional sanctions against Russia.
Trump has been invited to the talks because “he would give Putin an extra impetus to come by air”, but Trump has not confirmed his presence, Zelenski said. The US president will still be on his four -day trip to the Middle East on Thursday.
Washington has put strong pressure on both sides to come to the negotiating table since Trump took over his duties in January with the promise of ending the war.
Military analysts say that both sides are preparing a spring-summer campaign on the battlefield, where a corruption war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides along the line of the front.
The War Study Institute, a Washington -based Think Tank, said Monday that Russia “quickly replaces first -line units with new recruits to maintain the initiative on the battlefield”.