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Zelenskyy: Trump thought it would help to pressurise both sides
Zelenskyy says that US president Donald Trump has put more pressure on Ukraine than Russia since assuming the presidency.
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, broadcast through a translator, he said: “People come to diplomacy … to avoid a dead end so you have to make steps that will make peace.”
Zelenskyy added:
You have to pressurise the side that does not want to end the war. The position of Turkey and the United States, you saw that president Trump thought it would help to pressurise both sides – I think they pressurised us more than the Russians.
Ukraine is fighting for itself. We are not ready to lose our lives and land. That does not mean we are aggressors.
He went on to say that Ukraine has “pre-conditions” ahead of negotiations with Russia, which launched a full invasion of its land in 2022. He said:
We have a lot of pre-conditions for the aggressors and if America made those steps … we went along with those steps and not only those steps, there were a lot of diplomatic steps.
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The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is expected to speak to reporters in Antalya shortly after a meeting of Nato foreign ministers on Thursday.
At the meeting, Rubio said Donald Trump is “open to virtually any mechanism that gets us to a just, enduring and lasting peace and that’s what he wants to see”.
He wants to end wars and that’s the hope with Russia and Ukraine. We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days in that regard, but we want to see progress made.
Starmer accuses Putin of 'dragging his feet' after snubbing peace talks
Keir Starmer accused Vladimir Putin of “standing in the way” of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, after the Russian leader refused to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy face-to-face for peace talks in Turkey.
Asked what his message was to Putin, the UK prime minister said:
What’s happened today is further evidence that it’s Putin who is dragging his feet.
It is Putin who is causing the delay in a ceasefire. Ukraine has long been clear, several months ago now, that they would have a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, and we have long said that it’s Putin who is standing in the way of that peace.
The UK defence minister, John Healey, said Ukraine’s allies “need to act” and “put pressure on Putin” amid uncertainty over peace talks in Turkey.
Healey urged further sanctions on Russia as he spoke after a meeting with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Berlin on Thursday, Agence-France-Presse reported.
“We need to put pressure on [Vladimir] Putin that helps bring him to the negotiating table,” Healey said, adding:
Now is the time for him … to negotiate and to put an end to this fighting.
He said the Russian leader “has the power to end the war, he could travel to Istanbul and negotiate, he could order a ceasefire”.
Moscow 'ready to discuss possible compromises', says Russian delegation head
The head of Russia’s delegation at peace talks in Turkey, Vladimir Medinsky, said Moscow is ready to resume the negotiation process and discuss “possible compromises” with Ukraine.
“We are ready to work, to resume the Istanbul talks. We are ready for possible compromises, to discuss them,” Medinsky told state broadcaster Rossiya 24. He added:
We consider these talks as the continuation of the Istanbul peace process that was unfortunately broken off by the Ukrainian side.
Medinsky was referring to talks held between Russia and Ukraine shortly after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. He added:
The delegation is determined to be constructive, to search for possible solutions and common ground. The task of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side is sooner or later to achieve long-term peace by eliminating the basic root causes of the conflict.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6.30pm in Kyiv and Moscow. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is sending a team, led by his defence minister Rustem Umerov, to peace talks in Istanbul with Russia, which would mark the first direct negotiations since the early weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Zelenskyy will not be attending the Istanbul talks himself, after Vladimir Putin refused to travel to Turkey.
Vladimir Putin stayed away from proposed peace talks, leaving Zelenskyy waiting in the Turkish capital after challenging the Russian president to face-to-face negotiations. Putin instead dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to Istanbul, which Zelenskyy described as a “dummy delegation”.
Zelenskyy said Putin’s decision not to attend talks in Ankara showed that Russia was not taking efforts to end the war seriously. The Ukrainian president said he had decided to send officials from Ankara to Istanbul “out of respect” for Donald Trump and Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Donald Trump said he did not expect progress on Ukraine until he meets Putin in person. “I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together,” the US president told reporters. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Zelenskyy was “pathetic” for demanding Putin attend peace talks in Istanbul. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson accused the Ukrainian leader of being a “clown and loser”. The head of Russia’s delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said Moscow sees Thursday’s talks with Ukraine as a “continuation” of failed negotiations in 2022 at the start of its invasion.
Keir Starmer accused Putin of “dragging his feet” after the Russian leader failed to show for peace talks in Turkey. “It is Putin who is causing the delay in a ceasefire,” the UK prime minister said. “Ukraine has long been clear, several months ago now, that they would have a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.”
Deborah Cole
One of Latvia’s intelligence services has warned its citizens that there may be Russian saboteurs and spies in their midst, and given them a handy guide on how to spot them.
In its annual report, the Baltic state’s Defence Intelligence and Security Service, known as MIDD, offered advice to its nearly two million-strong population on how to scope out possible operatives sent by Russia who are flying beneath the radar.
A shabby, unkempt appearance and “insufficient hygiene” might be one telltale sign an agent has gone underground. Other red flags include overly nosy small talk with locals, a short, military-style haircut, or tourists who do not know the terrain but have an unusual amount of outdoor survival equipment such as specialised medical kits, maps or radios.
MIDD, one of three Latvian security agencies, said such giveaways could help citizens ferret out agents casing “critical infrastructure and military facilities” for sabotage, plotting targeted killings or fomenting unrest.
It said Russian operatives had upped their game in recent years, with training in chameleon-like disguises that made them harder to detect.
“The Ukrainian experience shows that Russian special services are able to adapt to the environment and circumstances in which reconnaissance-saboteur groups are used,” MIDD said. “Their members may not visually correspond to the classic reconnaissance-saboteur profile.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan believes the war in Ukraine must end with “direct negotiations” between both sides.
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, Zelenskyy said that the Turkish president had offered to host Ukrainian and Russian leaders “when they are ready”.
The press conference, which lasted almost an hour, has come to an end and the key takeaway here is that Zelenskyy saying that Ukraine is sending a delegation to Istanbul to discuss ceasefire plans.
He said the talks between all four sides – Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the US – could happen as soon as tonight.
Zelenskyy: Trump thought it would help to pressurise both sides
Zelenskyy says that US president Donald Trump has put more pressure on Ukraine than Russia since assuming the presidency.
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, broadcast through a translator, he said: “People come to diplomacy … to avoid a dead end so you have to make steps that will make peace.”
Zelenskyy added:
You have to pressurise the side that does not want to end the war. The position of Turkey and the United States, you saw that president Trump thought it would help to pressurise both sides – I think they pressurised us more than the Russians.
Ukraine is fighting for itself. We are not ready to lose our lives and land. That does not mean we are aggressors.
He went on to say that Ukraine has “pre-conditions” ahead of negotiations with Russia, which launched a full invasion of its land in 2022. He said:
We have a lot of pre-conditions for the aggressors and if America made those steps … we went along with those steps and not only those steps, there were a lot of diplomatic steps.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday a proposed meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin could be skipped if an agreement on a ceasefire between the two countries is agreed during technical talks in Istanbul.
The Ukrainian leader told a press conference in Ankara that if Moscow failed to show any willingness to engage in the ceasefire talks, then other nations should put more political and economic pressure on Russia and impose further sanctions.
“Russia does not feel that it needs to end [the war], which means there is not enough political, economic and other pressure on the Russian Federation,” he said.
“And so we ask, if there is no ceasefire, if there are no serious decisions … we ask for appropriate sanctions.”
Russian negotiators in Istanbul are prepared to resume the negotiation process with Ukraine and to discuss possible compromises with Kyiv, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the delegation, said on Russian state TV.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine sees Russia is not serious about talks but will send delegation headed by defence minister
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a press conference in Ankara, has said Ukraine will send a delegation to talks in Istanbul headed by its defence minister, but said that in Ukraine’s view Russia is not serious about peace talks. He says the mandate of the Ukrainian delegation is to discuss a ceasefire.
More details soon …
You will be able to watch the Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ankara press conference, which is about to start, here …
Tass is carrying a flash report which says that Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in Turkey, has said “Russia is ready to resume the negotiation process in Istanbul and possible compromises, there is a working mood.”
It is understood by the media that he will be holding a press briefing in Istanbul within the next hour.
We are still waiting for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to start his press conference in Ankara.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to hold a press conference in Ankara. We will bring you the key lines as they emerge.
Prospect of direct Ukraine-Russia talks hangs in balance as Turkey warns there must be 'compromise'
Ruth Michaelson
Ruth Michaelson is in Istanbul for the Guardian, and this is her latest report, summing up recent activity:
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting between Nato foreign ministers in the southern city of Antalya, told reporters that both Russia and Ukraine must “compromise,” in order to achieve peace.
“If the parties’ positions are harmonised and trust is established, a very important step towards peace will have been taken. We have enough reasons to be hopeful,” he said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that Russian president Vladimir Putin still has no plans to travel to Turkey for talks.
“There are no such plans at the current time. There is a delegation of Russian negotiators in Istanbul who are waiting for their Ukrainian counterparts who have not yet turned up,” he said.
Asked whether Putin might show up in Istanbul if US president Donald Trump chooses to, perhaps alongside US secretary of state Marco Rubio who currently in Antalya and due in Istanbul tomorrow, Peskov said: “It is premature to say what kind of participation will be required and at what level because we do not know if the Ukrainian negotiators will show up or not and how the negotiations will go.”
Trump meanwhile told reporters during a meeting with executives in Qatar that “I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there.”
The head of the Russian delegation, and aide to Putin, Vladimir Medinsky has reportedly said on his Telegram channel that he has arrived in Istanbul as is “ready for serious and professional work.”
Prior to a meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte this morning, Rubio said: “I will say this and I’ll repeat it, that there is no military solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This war is going to end not through a military solution but through a diplomatic one, and the sooner an agreement can be reached on ending this war, the less people will die and the less destruction there will be. And ultimately that’s what the president’s goal is.”
He added: “The president of the US has been abundantly clear he wants the war to end. He’s open to virtually any mechanism that gets us to a just, enduring, and lasting peace, and that’s what he wants to see. He wants to see an end to wars; he wants to keep wars from happening.”
For now all eyes in Istanbul are focused on a potential Ukrainian delegation who could show up here following Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan earlier this afternoon.
Reuters is reporting that Ukrainian diplomatic sources said they are considering sending a team to speak with the Russian delegation in Istanbul. The Ukrainian side will be looking to see what their Russian counterparts have to say, but more importantly to see whether they are empowered by Moscow to have “a serious conversation.”
If the Russian delegation is not serious about the talks, they said, “we will have the right to conclude that this is a Russian charade, not meaningful work for peace.”
