Russia, Ukraine to meet for talks this week

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said he planned to travel to Turkey on Thursday and he expected Russian leader Vladimir Putin also to be there. Putin earlier on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul—the latest in a series of proposals to wind down the conflict between the two countries. A ceasefire a week ago, proposed by Russia, did not occur. Each country blamed the other for continuing hostilities. It has been more than three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Will the United States be involved in the talks? On Monday, U.S. involvement wasn’t immediately clear. Russia proposed direct talks with Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly urged Ukraine to take the meeting. Ukraine was ready to negotiate in any format, Zelenskyy said.

Trump had earlier planned to fly to the Middle East to visit several other countries, and on Monday, he said he could possibly take a detour to Turkey to join negotiations.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s previous story about how a proposed Russia-Ukraine ceasefire failed to materialize.