Ukraine Zelensky sends a delegation for Russia’s negotiations after Putin without show | Russia-Ukrainian news

The absence of Putin calls for peace talks in Turkie, causing concern about potential intensified sanctions.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he was sending a team headed by the Minister of Defense to Istanbul for the first direct negotiations with the Russian delegation from the early weeks of a full -scale invasion of Russia in 2022.

Zelensky announced this step on Thursday after the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not intend to meet him in Turkie, sending instead of a junior delegation – a step that Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhkna said that “as a slap in the face.”

The President of Ukraine has declared a press conference in the Turkish capital of Ankara that the Russian delegation does not include “everyone who actually makes decisions”, accusing Moscow of not making efforts to end the war.

The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by the Minister of Defense of Rustem Umerov to “try at least the first steps to the de-escalation, the first steps to the cessation of war, it is the ceasefire,” he said.

It was not immediately clear when the delegations would meet.

The hay of Kosaooglu Al Jazzira, reporting to the Embassy of Ukraine in Ankara, said that Zelensky had chosen a delegation “in equilibrium” with Russian.

“He said they did not mind taking the first step towards the immediate ceasefire necessary for direct peace talks,” she said.

And all, “there will be no negotiations, and Zelensky emphasized that even his delegation has no mandate to decide anything. So tomorrow, technical negotiations are likely to take place between two delegations,” she added.

US President Trump, who pressed Putin and Zelensky to meet face-to-face in Istanbul, detached Putin’s absence from negotiations.

“Nothing will happen while Russian President Vladimir Putin and I’m going together, okay?” Trump said that on board the Air Force one just before landing in Dubai at the third stop of his journey in the Middle East. “I didn’t think Putin could go if I’m not there.”

The absence of Putin has pierced hopes for a breakthrough in the efforts to cease fire, which in recent months have been impetus to the Trump administration and Western European leaders against the background of intensive maneuvering. He also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia, which are threatening the West.

Turkish President Recep TaiP Erdogan had previously welcomed Zelensky on an honest Guard at the Ankara Presidential Palace before they negotiated.

“Now, after three years of great suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at a NATO meeting held separately in Turkie. “Negotiations … We hope they can open a new chapter.”