Putin will not attend the meeting with Zelensky in Turkey this Thursday and is sending a Kremlin advisor instead

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be part of the delegation sent by the Kremlin to peace talks on the war in Ukraine scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul, according to news outlet The Moscow Times.

Instead, the delegation will be led by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, despite calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Putin to attend in person.

Zelensky, who confirmed his attendance at the negotiations, expressed his desire to meet face-to-face with Putin, stating that he would do everything possible for such a meeting to take place.

For his part, President Donald Trump will also not be present, as Putin personally will not participate in the negotiations.

The Ukrainian leader will be in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Thursday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the negotiations in Istanbul.

Putin and Zelensky have not met in person since December 2019, and the last direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul in March 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.

The proposal for direct talks in Istanbul was initially put forward by Putin, who described them as a space to negotiate "without preconditions."

For his part, the Ukrainian had posited, "There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally," Zelensky wrote in a post on social networks.

The conflict has escalated, with Russian forces gaining ground in the east of the country over the past year. Putin's suggestion to resume direct negotiations in Turkey followed a call by Western powers, led by European leaders meeting in Kyiv on Saturday, to implement a 30-day cease-fire.

President Donald Trump backed Putin's proposal on Sunday, urging Ukraine to accept the offer. "A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

The Republican, who is currently in Qatar, on Wednesday raised the possibility of attending the talks in Istanbul if Putin did as well. "I know he would like me to be there, and that's a possibility. If we could end the war, I'd be thinking about that," he told reporters, adding that he did not know if Putin would attend "if I'm not there."

U.S. present, but without Trump

The United States will send a high-level delegation, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Turkey on Wednesday night. Rubio will meet with NATO foreign ministers on Thursday in Antalya and is scheduled to travel to Istanbul on Friday to participate in discussions about the war in Ukraine, according to the State Department.