Putin spurns Zelenskyy meeting but lower-level Ukraine-Russia talks are still on

ANKARA Turkey AP Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years both countries stated Thursday but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey Zelenskyy explained he is sending a band headed by his defense minister from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul to meet a Russian delegation even though Moscow s side doesn t include anyone who authentically makes decisions Scant had expected Putin to show up in Turkey and his absence punctured any hope of critical progress in efforts to end the -year-old war that was given a push in latest 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 West Zelenskyy speaking to reporters in Ankara where he flew Thursday after challenging Putin to sit down with him accused Moscow of not taking efforts to end the war seriously by sending a low-level negotiating organization that he described as a theater prop His proposal to Putin came after a flurry of maneuvering last weekend as each side sought a diplomatic advantage The head of the Russian delegation presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky revealed in Istanbul the representatives were ready to meet Ukrainian bureaucrats The task of these direct negotiations with Ukraine is to establish long-term peace sooner or later by eliminating the root causes of this conflict he noted in a brief declaration It was not clear when they might meet U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due in Istanbul in Friday Zelenskyy who is heading Friday to a gathering of European representatives in Albania stated that he had decided to send the delegation to Istanbul to demonstrate to U S President Donald Trump that Ukraine wants to end the fighting He reported the Ukrainian side would be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and its aim is to attempt at least the first efforts toward de-escalation the first strategies toward ending the war namely a ceasefire Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier welcomed Zelenskyy with an honor guard at the presidential palace in Ankara before the two held their own talks The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than Ukrainian civilians according to the U N and continues along the roughly -kilometer -mile front line Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive Ukrainian authorities and Western military analysts say At least five civilians were killed and injured in the past day according to personnel in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia s army is trying to advance A weekend of maneuvering The diplomatic maneuvering began Saturday when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a full unconditional -day ceasefire as a first step toward peace Putin responded early Sunday by proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul Then came Zelenskyy s challenge to Putin for face-to-face talks After days of silence Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov decisively declared Thursday that Putin had no plans to trip to Istanbul in the next sparse days Trump noted he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show He had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off the Kremlin leader s decision not to attend I didn t think it was feasible for Putin to go if I m not there Trump described reporters at a meeting with business executives in Doha Qatar on the third day of his visit to the Middle East Trump mentioned a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to latest the deadlock I don t believe anything s going to happen whether you like it or not until Putin and I get together he disclosed on Air Force One while traveling from Doha to Abu Dhabi the capital of the United Arab Emirates But we re going to have to get it solved because too various people are dying Peskov declared Putin has no plans to meet with Trump in the coming days Medinsky Putin s aide is leading the Russian organization that also includes three other senior executives the Kremlin stated Putin also appointed four lower-level leaders as experts for the talks in Istanbul Also absent from the talks were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin s foreign procedures advisor Yuri Ushakov both of whom represented Russia at talks with the U S in Saudi Arabia in March The top-level Ukrainian delegation included Umerov Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak a Ukrainian official reported Zelenskyy will sit at the negotiating table only with Putin reported presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak Putin met Wednesday evening with senior regime bureaucrats and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks Peskov disclosed Defense Minister Andrei Belousov General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov and National Protection Council secretary Sergei Shoigu also attended Russia calls the talks a restart The Kremlin billed Thursday s talks as a restart of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in but swiftly collapsed Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting while Kyiv disclosed Russia s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on That delegation also 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 war swiftly although it s been hard to pull off The Trump administration in fresh weeks indicated it might walk away from the effort if there was no tangible progress soon Sybiha the Ukrainian foreign minister met with Rubio and Sen Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night in the Turkish city of Antalya which is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense venture goals as the U S shifts its focus to protection challenges away from Europe Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine s promotion for Trump s mediation efforts and thanked the U S for its continued involvement urging Moscow to reciprocate Ukraine s constructive policies toward peace So far it has not Sybiha disclosed 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 intricate spot right now and we hope that we can find the approaches forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future Rubio commented Thursday British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of standing in the way of peace There was only one country that started this conflict that was Russia That was Putin There s only one country now standing in the way of peace that is Russia that is Putin he stated in a visit to Tirana Albania Barrot echoed that sentiment In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin he noted 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 Aamer Madhani in Dubai United Arab Emirates and Matthew Lee in Antalya Turkey contributed Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine Source