Zelenskyy asks Trump to attend peace talks, but Putin’s plans remain unclear

ISTANBUL – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine appealed to President Donald Trump on Tuesday to meet him this week for peace talks, saying it would put pressure on President Vladimir Putin of Russia to attend, but he cast doubt on Putin’s desire for either talks or peace.

The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to say whether Putin would travel to a meeting in Turkey, where peace talks are set for Thursday in Istanbul. “As soon as the president sees it fit, we will announce” the delegation’s makeup, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry S. Peskov, told Russian news agencies.

Trump unexpectedly floated the possibility Monday that he could take part in the meeting, which will coincide with his scheduled trip this week to the Middle East. “Don’t underestimate Thursday in Turkey,” he told reporters at the White House.

Over the weekend, Putin called for direct talks with Ukraine while ignoring demands by the country and its allies to agree to an immediate ceasefire by Monday or face further sanctions. Zelenskyy raised the stakes Monday, saying he would travel to Turkey for a face-to-face meeting and challenging Putin to do the same.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said of Trump, “If he were to confirm his participation, I think it would give an additional push for Putin to come.”

Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Ukraine, he said he and Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would be waiting for Putin in Ankara, the Turkish capital, but would also be ready to travel to any city Putin chooses.

“So that Russia doesn’t manipulate the situation and claim that Putin is not ready to fly to Ankara and is only willing to go to Istanbul, I want to say right away: If Putin flies to Istanbul instead of the capital, I have already sent a signal to President Erdogan, and the Turkish side is ready,” Zelenskyy said. “Erdogan and I will fly to Istanbul.

“If Putin is truly ready, not just in the media but in real life, to meet, then at the leaders’ level, we will do everything to agree on a ceasefire. Because it is with him that I must negotiate a ceasefire. He is the only one who decides.”

The Trump administration has been growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in its efforts to broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine. Trump recently questioned whether Putin really wanted to end the war.

Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said Tuesday that Trump had made clear that he “expects” both Zelenskyy and Putin to be present for talks in Turkey.

“I believe that if Vladimir Putin refuses to come to Turkey, it will be the final signal that Russia does not want to end this war – that Russia is neither willing nor ready for any negotiations,” Yermak said in a statement.

Kyiv’s European allies have also been ramping up pressure on Moscow to agree to an unconditional 30-day truce, a proposal first made by the United States in early March that Ukraine accepted. On a visit to Kyiv over the weekend, European leaders said that Putin had until the end of Monday to agree and that if it did not, further sanctions would be imposed.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no new sanctions had been announced.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany gave no indication of how soon the sanctions could be introduced.

“We are waiting for Mr. Putin’s approval, and we agree that if no real progress is made this week, we will then jointly advocate for a significant tightening of sanctions at the European level,” Merz said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.