Washington (TDI): US President Donald Trump has said that he was thinking about visiting to Türkiye for possible peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
The meeting in Istanbul would be the first direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials since the early months of Moscow’s invasion in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed he will join, stating earlier he wanted the US President to be there and was ready for “direct and substantive talks with US President Putin”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated he is ready to host and urged the warring parties on Monday to seize the “window of opportunity” to reach an agreement.
Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while Russian army now controls around one-fifth of the country — including the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014.
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Putin suggested the direct talks as a counteroffer to a 30-day ceasefire put forward by Ukraine and its allies over the weekend, which Kyiv accused Moscow of “completely ignoring” on Monday.
Trump told journalists earlier he would attend negotiations if he “thought it would be helpful”.
“I was thinking about actually visiting to Türkiye. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen,” Trump told reporters at the White House prior to departing for a visit to the Middle East.
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After Trump on Sunday publicly called on Kyiv to sit down with Moscow, Zelensky stated he was ready to meet Putin in Türkiye “personally”.
“We are willing for direct meeting with Putin,” the Ukrainian president confirmed again on Monday, after a call with Erdogan.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
