‘Trump must realise Putin is obstacle to peace’: Zelenskyy ahead of Russia-Ukraine direct talks in Turkey | World News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will travel to Turkey’s capital Ankara and meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in anbul as he wants the US President Donald Trump to understand that Putin is the real obstacle to peace.
Zelenskyy said that he wants the current period of frantic diplomacy and high-stakes gambit between Russia and Ukraine to end with direct talks in anbul, though the Kremlin has yet not confirmed whether Putin would attend the talks or skip it.
During a press briefing in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that he will do everything to ensure that the meeting between Russia and Ukraine takes place in Turkey. The Ukrainian president has indicated that he would fly to Turkey whether or not Putin attends the direct talks.

Emergency response operations are currently underway in Kharkiv after a Russian drone strike. Another strike on an energy facility, a purely civilian one. Russia is being Russia. When everybody awaits Russia’s response to a ceasefire and direct negotiations, they respond with new… pic.twitter.com/CdaCWub0Ee
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 13, 2025
Russia is still to inform who would attend the meeting, except that it would be announced “as soon as [Putin] deems it necessary”. Zelenskyy and Putin haven’t met each other since December 2019.
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The previous such talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in March 2022 in anbul, a month after Russia had launched its full-scale invasion of Kyiv.

“Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies. And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process,” Zelenskyy said, The Guardian reported.
Putin had initially called for a direct talk with Ukraine in Turkey “without any pre-condition” as Zelenskyy announced that he would be present in-person in the meeting and expects Putin to travel as well.
The US is also expected to send a high-level delegation, while Trump had posted on Truth Social that he might join the talks in anbul, if need be. The US president is currently on his Middle East tour, where he is visiting Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.Story continues below this ad
“I believe the two leaders are going to be there. I was thinking about flying over,” Trump had said.