Zelenskiy says he won’t join Istanbul talks after Putin sent ‘decorative’ delegation

Russia’s Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face to face with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine’s president said now his defence minister would head up Kyiv’s team.

They will be the first direct talks between the sides since March 2022, but hopes of a major breakthrough were further dented by Trump who said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.

Zelenskiy said Putin’s decision not to attend but to send what he called a “decorative” line-up showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war. Russia accused Ukraine of trying “to put on a show” around the talks.

It was not clear when the talks would actually begin.

“We can’t be running around the world looking for Putin,” Zelenskiy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

“I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation – this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump,” Zelenskiy told reporters.

Both Trump and Putin have said for months they are keen to meet each other, but no date has been set.