Peace talks: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Turkiye; Russia’s Vladimir Putin absent

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, on, May 15, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

A low-ranking Russian delegation arrived in Turkey’s Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday (May 15, 2025), while a Ukrainian delegation led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and including other senior government figures landed in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the Moscow delegation, according to a list released by the Kremlin on Wednesday (May 14, 2025) night, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the peace effort.

“Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Mr. Putin, would lead the Russian team that would also include three other senior officials,” the Kremlin said. Mr. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.

Earlier this week, Mr. Zelenskyy challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkey to talk about ending the more than three-year war. Mr. Zelenskyy said he would travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Mr. Putin.

“Also in the Ukrainian delegation are Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian Presidential office Andriy Yermak,” the official said.

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He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons as the team had not yet arrived in Ankara. “Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey. “The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”

“But Mr. Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with Mr. Putin, Ukraine’s Presidential advisor,” Mykhailo Podolyak, said.

“Details about when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Mr. Zelenskyy and Mr. Erdogan meet,” according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day’s plan.

TASS said the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus. Mr. Putin on Wednesday (May 14, 2025) evening held a meeting with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting, among others.

Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Mr. Putin effectively rejected the proposal, offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.

The Kremlin billed Thursday’s (May 15, 2025) talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on. Russia’s delegation then was also headed by Mr. Medinsky.

Mr. Putin’s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.

Mr. Trump had pressed for Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul but said on Thursday (May 15, 2025) he wasn’t surprised that Mr. Putin was a no-show. He brushed off Mr. Putin’s decision to not take part in the talks.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Mr. Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar

The U.S. and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday (May 14, 2025) night. Antalya (Turkey) on Thursday (May 15, 2025) is hosting NATO Foreign Ministers to discuss new defence investment goals as the U.S. shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.

Mr. Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Mr. Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. “So far, it has not,” Mr. Sybiha said.

On Thursday (May 15, 2025) morning, Mr. Sybiha also met with other European Foreign Ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn’t comply.

“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future,” Mr. Rubio said on Thursday (May 15, 2025).

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.

“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realised that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia,” Ms. Valtonen said.

Mr. Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”