Zelenskyy Sends Ukrainian Delegation to Istanbul after Putin No-Show

TaiwanPlus News

Hopes are dimming for a breakthrough in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to show up for direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey. Both countries have instead sent delegations to Istanbul for the talks.

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00:00Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Turkey ahead of planned face-to-face peace talks between

00:07Kyiv and Moscow, the first of their kind since the beginning of the three-year war between Russia

00:12and Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader first met with Turkish President Tayyip Edelwan in Ankara to

00:18discuss peace efforts. But as the Kremlin confirmed Russian President Vladimir Putin

00:23would be a no-show for the talks, Zelensky took aim at Russia's lack of effort to end the war.

00:30He doesn't feel that he needs to end the war, so he doesn't have a political, economic and other

00:37pressure on the Russian Federation. And so we ask, if there is no

00:44to stop the fire, if there is no serious action, if there is no two-street meetings, we ask

00:52some of the sanctions that will be a stimulant to the faster end of the war.

00:59Last week, Putin proposed the direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. And in response, Zelensky said he'd attend,

01:07despite Moscow dismissing Kyiv and its allies' demands for an immediate 30-day ceasefire first.

01:13The Ukrainian president said due to Putin's absence, he would also not attend the talks,

01:18instead sending a delegation, headed by the country's defense minister.

01:22Russia has sent a comparatively low-level delegation to the city.

01:26It's a team Zelensky has described as a, quote, dummy delegation.

01:30But with the talks still set to go ahead, Turkey's foreign minister caught on both countries to find some middle ground.

01:37As long as our aim is to reach peace, we need to ensure that both sides make certain compromises,

01:46to take a step towards establishing a mutual peace.

01:51It's something that Russia's delegation says they are open to, saying Moscow's aim is to secure a lasting peace.

01:58We are ready to resume negotiations in Istanbul. We are ready to discuss possible compromises.

02:09But Putin's absence has punctured hopes of any breakthrough in the ceasefire efforts.

02:14United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he didn't have high expectations for the talks.

02:20And frankly, at this point, I think it's abundantly clear that the only way we're going to have a breakthrough here

02:25is between President Trump and President Putin.

02:29It's going to require that level of engagement to have a breakthrough in this matter.

02:33Comments echoed by the U.S. president himself, who has been pushing for an end to the war.

02:38Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together, OK?

02:42And obviously he wasn't going to go. He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go.

02:46He wasn't going if I wasn't there.

02:48And I don't believe anything's going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together.

02:53Regardless, Ukrainian officials are still expected to meet with the Russian delegation in Istanbul.

02:59But with no planned meetings between Putin and Trump, hopes of securing some peace between Ukraine and Russia

03:05could be left yet again at a standstill.

03:08James Lin and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.

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