Ukraine’s Zelenskyy arrives in Turkey for peace talks but Putin is absent

By MEHMET GUZEL HANNA ARHIROVA and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA Turkey AP Russian President Vladimir Putin didn t show up Thursday for proposed direct peace talks in Turkey with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy who was waiting for Putin in the capital Ankara after challenging him to face-to-face discussions on ending their countries more than three-year war With Putin absent the Russian delegation was in Istanbul and it wasn t clear whether the sides would meet for their first talks since March following Russia s full-scale invasion of its neighbor the previous month Zelenskyy explained the Russian delegation appeared to be merely decorative Speaking at the airport in the Turkish capital Ankara he announced the next initiatives for talks would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Putin s absence punctured hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts given a push in newest 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 U S and European leaders Now after three years of immense suffering there is at last a window of opportunity Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan commented at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey The talks hopefully may open a new chapter The war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and more than Ukrainian civilians according to the U N and continues along the roughly -kilometer -mile front line Russian forces are also preparing to launch a fresh military offensive Ukrainian ruling body and Western military analysts say The Kremlin never gave a response to Sunday s challenge from Zelenskyy That challenge came after Putin had proposed direct talks with Ukraine Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with Putin Ukraine s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak commented U S President Donald Trump revealed he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off Putin s apparent decision not to attend I didn t think it was attainable for Putin to go if I m not there Trump stated in an exchange with reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha Qatar on the third day of his visit to the Middle East Vladimir Medinsky an aide to Putin is leading the Russian group that will also include three other senior functionaries the Kremlin noted Putin also appointed four lower-level personnel as experts for the talks in Istanbul The top-level Ukrainian delegation also included Defense Minister Rustem Umerov Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak a Ukrainian official reported Details about whether when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts were unclear Russia mentioned the talks have been postponed until the afternoon at the initiative of the Turkish side Tass disclosed that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus in Istanbul Moscow offered talks instead of a ceasefire Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior ruling body authorities and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed Defense Minister Andrei Belousov General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov and National Measure Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting among others Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full unconditional -day ceasefire as a first step toward peace Putin offered direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead The Kremlin billed Thursday s talks as a restart of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in but fast fell apart Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting while Kyiv declared Russia s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on Russia s delegation then was also headed by Medinsky Putin s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by Trump who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly The Trump administration in latest weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon Ukraine supports Trump s peace efforts Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with U S State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense capital goals as the U S shifts its focus to shield challenges away from Europe Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine s sponsorship for Trump s mediation efforts and thanked the U S for its continued involvement urging Moscow to reciprocate Ukraine s constructive moves toward peace So far it has not Sybiha revealed On Thursday morning Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers including his French counterpart Jean-No l Barrot who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of massive sanctions if Russia doesn t comply We re in a very complex spot right now and we hope that we can find the efforts forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future Rubio stated Thursday Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen also in Antalya for the NATO talks accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process We have one chair empty which is the chair of Vladimir Putin So now I guess the entire world has realized that there s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations and that certainly is Russia Valtonen stated Barrot echoed her sentiment In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin he stated Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv Ukraine Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn Estonia and Matthew Lee in Antalya Turkey contributed to this description