Zelenskyy to meet Turkish President Erdoğan in Ankara, but ready to fly to Putin in Istanbul

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that he is scheduled to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Thursday, but if Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin agrees to fly to Istanbul, he and Erdoğan are prepared to travel there instead.

Source Zelenskyy’s comments to journalists on Tuesday, as reported by European Pravda 

Details: Zelenskyy stated that he plans to meet with Erdoğan in Ankara on 15 May – a meeting already agreed upon with the Turkish president.

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Quote from Zelenskyy: “We are waiting for a meeting with Putin in Türkiye. To prevent Russia from manipulating the choice of city and claiming that Putin is not ready to come to Ankara but is only willing to fly to Istanbul… If Putin flies to Istanbul instead of the capital, I have already sent a signal to President Erdoğan, and the Turkish side is ready for us to fly to Istanbul together.” 

Details: Zelenskyy added, “We will do everything to make this meeting happen,” and noted that he can negotiate a ceasefire only with Putin, because “he is the only one who decides on it”.

Zelenskyy also said that US President Donald Trump had been invited to join the meeting, but his decision is not yet known.

“But in any case, if he confirmed his participation, it would add extra momentum to get Putin to come,” the Ukrainian president stated.

Background:

• Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, senior envoys of US President Donald Trump, will travel to Istanbul, where talks between Ukraine and Russia may take place on Thursday.
• Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that if Russian ruler Vladimir Putin refuses to hold talks in Türkiye, this will indicate that Russia does not want to end the war.
• Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that the Russian side continues preparations for talks in Istanbul on 15 May and is not providing any further comments.

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