Leaders Trump and Putin Unlikely to Join Proposed Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul

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Ukraine and Russia could be close to reviving direct peace talks for the first time since the last face-to-face discussions ended three years ago, but a pair of high-profile absences from the delegation list could sink negotiations before they begin.

On the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Thursday, “without any preconditions”, while dismissing a proposal from European leaders for an immediate ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would attend the talks, challenging Putin to meet in person for the first time since 2019 to participate in face-to-face discussions.

Who’s out?

The two major absences from the talks are Putin and United States President Donald Trump. Russia’s delegation list, released on Thursday, did not include Putin. Shortly after the announcement, a US official said Trump would not attend either.

Trump had earlier floated the idea of mediating if Putin attended.

“I don’t know that he [Putin] would be there if I’m not there,” Trump told reporters during his Middle East visit on Wednesday.

“I know he would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility. If we could end the war, I’d be thinking about that,” he said.

He said he had a packed schedule but added: “That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it to save a lot of lives.”

Earlier in the week, US envoy Keith Kellogg said that if Putin showed up, Trump would join the talks.

“We’re hoping President Putin shows up as well, and then President Trump will be there. This could be an absolutely incredible meeting,” he said. “We can get peace, I really believe, pretty fast if all three leaders sit down and talk.”

While Putin had never confirmed he would attend in person, the absence of the Russian and US presidents lowers the expectations for a major breakthrough in the .

There had also been unconfirmed Russian and US media reports that said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, would be in Istanbul and ready to meet their Ukrainian counterparts.

Both have previously taken part in discussions between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia. But both names were absent from the delegation list.

Who’s in?

Zelenskyy has travelled to Türkiye to attend the talks in person.

He said earlier this week that he believed Putin’s absence would be a signal that he was not genuinely interested in peace.

“I am waiting to see who will arrive from Russia. Then I will decide what steps Ukraine should take,” he said.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source told the Reuters news agency the country’s leadership would decide on its next steps once there was clarity on Putin’s participation.

Russia’s delegation is set to include Vladimir Medinsky, a hardline aide to Putin and ex-culture minister, along with deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin. Both took part in the last set of negotiations in 2022.

Medinsky is considered influential in advancing Russia’s historical claims over swathes of Ukraine and has written textbooks advancing a nationalist view of Russian history that has been questioned by independent historians.

A man with short hair and wearing glasses looking to the side.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is part of the delegation that will attend talks in Türkiye. Source: AAP / Artyom Geodakyan/TASS/Sipa USA

The other three negotiators were named as deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin and director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, Igor Kostyukov.

A US delegation, meanwhile, includes secretary of state Marco Rubio along with senior envoys Kellogg and Steve Witkoff.

What could be discussed?

Trump to pause Europe’s biggest land war since World War Two, and a Russian politician said on Wednesday there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war exchange.

Zelenskyy backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks in which the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.

The fundamental differences between the two countries are far from being resolved.

Russia insists talks need to address what it says are the “root causes” of the conflict, including the “denazification” and demilitarisation of Ukraine, two vague terms Russia has used to justify the invasion.

It has also repeated Ukraine must cede its territory occupied by Russian troops.

Ukraine said it won’t recognise its territories as Russian, though Zelenskyy has acknowledged Ukraine might have to use diplomatic means to get them back.

Direct talks between negotiators from Ukraine and Russia last took place in Istanbul in March 2022, a month after Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what he calls a “special military operation” to root out neo-Nazis.

Ukraine and its allies say the invasion was an unprovoked, imperial-style land grab.

What next?

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy said the West should impose massive sanctions if Putin skips the meeting.

Both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, two top European Union leaders, warned Russia there would be new sweeping sanctions if no substantial progress is reached in Türkiye this week.

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