Trump considers joining Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Turkey, unclear if Putin will show

[mystery-ak]

Trump considers joining Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Turkey, unclear if Putin will show
President suggests Putin might not attend negotiations without him there, despite already scheduled UAE commitments
By Morgan Phillips Fox News
Published May 14, 2025 10:10am EDT Updated May 14, 2025 11:58am EDT

President Donald Trump said he may travel to Turkey for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as he doesn’t believe President Vladimir Putin would show if he isn’t there.

"I don’t know if he’s showing up," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I know he would like me to be there. And that's a possibility."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Ankara for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, but it’s not yet clear if the Kremlin leader will show up.

Russia had proposed restarting direct peace talks, and Zelenskyy challenged Putin himself to show up. Russia has refused to confirm who’s attending the talks, while Zelenskyy has said he will only meet with Putin.

The president noted that he has a "full day" scheduled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Thursday, and he’d planned on sending Secretary of State and interim national security advisor Marco Rubio.

But, he added, "I don't know that [Putin] would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out. Marco's going and Marco's been very effective."

"If we could end the war, I'd be thinking about that. Now, tomorrow, we're all booked out, and you understand that, we're all set, UAE tomorrow, and so we have a very full situation. Now, that doesn't mean I wouldn't do it to save a lot of lives and come back."

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-travel-turkey-russia-ukraine-peace-talks.amp

[DefiantMassRINO]

I hope Zelenskyy remembers to bring hundred million dollar presents, like the Qatari's did.

[Timber Rattler]

Heh...meeting in Turkey was Putin's idea.  Zelensky called his bluff and now Putin's trying to wiggle out of it.

[Timber Rattler]

https://www.wsj.com/world/ukraine-and-russia-cant-even-agree-on-who-will-meet-where-for-peace-talks-d28c2f92

Ignoring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to meet for direct high-level talks in Turkey, Russian leader Vladimir Putin dispatched to Istanbul a team of junior officials, making it uncertain that negotiations between the warring nations would occur at all.

The Russian team is set to be led by Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky and deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin, the same men whom Putin dispatched to negotiate Ukraine’s surrender in the early days of the war. The last session of these talks occurred in Istanbul in March 2022, and the negotiations fell apart as Russia suffered a military defeat and withdrew its forces from Kyiv and other parts of northern Ukraine.

Zelensky, who is slated to arrive in Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday for separate talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he would be ready to meet with Putin if the Russian leader also came to Turkey. President Trump, who has made ending the war in Ukraine his key foreign-policy priority, has also indicated he might have attended.

But Putin’s decision to send junior officials instead foreclosed the possibility of any breakthrough, Western diplomats say. By naming Medinsky, a former culture minister, as head of the delegation, they say, Putin has indicated that he’s unwilling to budge and seeks the same objectives as in 2022: the end of Ukraine as a sovereign state that is able to defend itself.

Senior U.S. officials are also headed to Istanbul, though it isn’t clear whom they would meet and when.

EXCERPT

Putin chickened out from his own meeting...

[Cyber Liberty]

Then there is no reason for President Trump to go to Turkey.

[Timber Rattler]

Then there is no reason for President Trump to go to Turkey.

Nope.  Zelensky called Putin's bluff.  I wonder what Trump thinks about that?

[The_Reader_David]

Then there is no reason for President Trump to go to Turkey.

Unless for symbolism.  If he has finally decided (correctly) that Putin is the obstacle to peace between Russia and Ukraine, going to the site proposed for direct talks to announce a raft of new armaments being sent to Ukraine and a round of new economic sanctions on Russia might have good optics.  Besides, he's already in the region -- either Ankara or Istanbul is not that far out of the way on a homeward journey from the Gulf.

[verga]

I honestly thought Putin was getting sick of the optics of this. I was wrong.

[American Girl]

Excerpt:
Doha, Qatar – During a press conference in Doha on May 15, 2025, a reporter asked President Donald Trump if he was disappointed that Vladimir Putin skipped a proposed face-to-face meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey for peace talks. Trump’s response, captured in a video viewed over 1.3 million times, was quintessential Trump



Zelensky is merely a publicity stunt; he has no real substance.

Trump’s confidence is unmatched he knows who really calls the shots.

https://www.usasupreme.com/video-reporter-asks-trump-about-putin-skipping-turkey-peace-talks-trumps-response-is-classic-trump/

[Timber Rattler]

Zelensky is merely a publicity stunt; he has no real substance.

That's complete nonsense.  The dude's fighting to save his country from invading Russian hordes.  He could have fled that first day but didn't. Instead, he stayed and fought, and could have surrendered at anytime over the past three years but hasn't.  For someone who doesn't have any "real substance," he sure has lasted a long time under constant personal threat from the Russian FSB, GRU, and military.

Zelensky refuses US offer to evacuate, saying ‘I need ammunition, not a ride’

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/26/europe/ukraine-zelensky-evacuation-intl/index.html

[mystery-ak]

Putin Refuses To Attend Peace Talks With Zelensky After Trump Backed Negotiations

Kate Anderson
Contributor
May 14, 2025 7:25 PM ET

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending peace talks in Turkey with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday despite calling for direct negotiations between the warring countries, the BBC reported.

President Donald Trump, who is in Qatar, had hinted at possibly attending the meeting himself if Putin was present, but a Kremlin statement announced Wednesday that presidential aide Vladimir Medinksy would lead the Russian delegation, the BBC reported. Putin called for a direct conversation between Russia and Ukraine on May 10, according to CNN. Trump then requested that the Ukrainians attend the meeting in a post on his Truth Social platform on May 11, saying that the Russian president was open to negotiating “a possible end to the BLOODBATH” in Istanbul, Turkey.

Shortly after these events, Zelensky announced that he would be willing to sit across the table from Putin.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the Ukrainian president was willing to discuss “anything that contributes to long and lasting peace,” Politico reported.

more
https://dailycaller.com/2025/05/14/putin-peace-talks-zelensky-trump-ukraine-russia-war-turkey/

[Timber Rattler]

Zelenksy called Putin's bluff and revealed him to be the coward that he truly is.

[Canuck Conservative]

Putin isn't interested in Peace, as actions like this clearly show.

Pres. Trump continues to be played, as Putin manipulates him with that ever-elusive "peace deal".

[DefiantMassRINO]

Putin is damaging his bro'mance with Tangerine Mussolini.

[berdie]

Zelenksy called Putin's bluff and revealed him to be the coward that he truly is.

I was shocked by this. Putin may think this looks strong...but most people think it's like a challenge to meet at  the flagpole after school and then not show up.

He doesn't want peace.

[DB]

He wants the soviet empire back.

He's not getting it.