Only one day before the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump still have not guaranteed that they will be present personally.
During the weekend, the Russian president suggested that the negotiating teams of the two countries could meet on Thursday in Istanbul, but refused to say who would be there from Moscow.
Mr. Trump then insisted on Ukraine to attend the conversations and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy soon said he would be there personally, but would only attend if Mr Putin were to pop up.
It started with a diplomatic distance between the two leaders, while the US continues to stack the pressure on them to end the three -year conflict.
On Tuesday, the Lord Zenskyy said that he would not meet other Russians who are subordinate to the president, because “everything in Russia depends on Mr. Putin.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy challenges his Russian counterpart to attend. ((Reuters: Valenties Ogirenko))
“So I said that I am going to Turkey (Thursday) and I am ready to meet Putin and the war ended with him,” he said at a press conference.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Russian president was unable to give more details about whether Mr Putin was expected.
Asked by reporters in a daily briefing whether the Kremlin could reveal the composition of the Russian delegation, said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov that he was still waiting for “an instruction” from Mr Putin.
“The Russian delegation will wait for the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on May 15,” he added.
Trump says that Putin would ‘want me to be there’
In the meantime, Mr. Trump, who is touring the Arab states, said that he is still considering whether he was present.
“[Putin] Would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility … I don’t know he would be there if I wasn’t there. We are going to find out: “Mr Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on his way to Qatar.
If Mr Putin is present, this would be the first meeting between the leaders of the two warring countries since December 2019.
The US President has encouraged the two parties to register for a strike-fire-fire-fires, a proposal supported by Ukraine and European leaders.
Mr Putin said that he first wants to start conversations in which the details of such a cessation -the fires can be discussed.
There is growing frustration in the White House about the lack of progress between Ukraine and Russia to achieve a peace scheme.
Mr. Trump said earlier that he “always is considering”, further sanctions against Russia if he thought the Kremlin was blocking the process.
Reuters
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