Ukraine, Russia peace talks begin in Turkey

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy kicked off direct peace negotiations after arriving in Turkey on Thursday by meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Ukrainian delegation is ready in the capital city of Ankara to make decisions that could bring a just and long-awaited peace, Zelenskyy wrote Thursday morning.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that the Russian delegation is also ready and waiting in Istanbul, about a 275-mile drive west, according to the Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel with the delegation to Turkey for negotiations, but he set the delegation's negotiation position from a collection of military reports, Peskov added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan emphasized the need for both sides to make certain compromises for mutual peace, according to Reuters. There are intense diplomatic discussions for a ceasefire over the phone, and in person at Ankara, Istanbul, and southern Turkey’s Antalya, Fidan said during a Thursday interview.

How involved is President Donald Trump? There are currently no plans for delegators to meet with Trump, and the discussion overall has not been raised, Russia’s Peskov said. Trump believed that his absence caused Putin not to attend. Putin couldn’t attend if Trump was absent, the president said during a press conference in Qatar. Trump praised U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for leading the U.S. delegation in Turkey. Hopefully, Russia and Ukraine will work something out because the war needs to stop, Trump added. 

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s report on the last proposed ceasefire falling apart.