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Zelensky says he will fly to Istanbul at a moment’s notice if Putin does show up
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says he is heading to Turkey for a potential peace summit to show Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin “lies” to him.
Mr Zelensky said he would be in Turkey whether or not his Russian counterpart confirms his attendance, and suggested that the exercise will show Mr Putin is not true to his claims to be ready for peace.
“If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point [showing] that he does not want to end the war,” Mr Zelensky said. “Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies. And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process,” Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv yesterday.
He will meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara and said he will fly on to Istanbul at a moment’s notice if Mr Putin does show up.
Mr Trump has suggested he could join Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin in Turkey this week if a summit goes ahead. But the Kremlin has still declined to comment on whether Mr Putin will travel to Turkey.
Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals suspected of acting as foreign spies in a plot related to explosive parcels, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The nationals, who are accused of working for Russian state institutions, have been linked by authorities to a shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, federal prosecutors said.
The EU has approved a seventeenth sanctions package on Russia, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said.
Speaking to BFMTV on Wednesday, he added that the bloc would now turn to working on further, tougher sanctions in coordination with the United States.
On a mild spring evening, deep in eastern Ukraine, Shawn McVey – call sign “Goldfish” – peers into a gully where controlled chaos is unfolding. “If you’re too busy killing, you don’t have time to die,” he bellows across the smoke-filled twilight.
Explosions punctuate the dusk, casting brief, searing flashes over a network of trenches carved deep into Ukrainian soil. Helmets bob through the haze; figures crawl and scramble under fire, their shouts blending with the staccato of simulated gunfire.
“Your job isn’t to die for Ukraine – it’s to make sure they die for Russia,” roars Brad, call sign ‘Cossack’, a grizzled 20-year veteran of the US 82nd Airborne and the camp’s head instructor.
Harry Stourton reports from eastern Ukraine:
Four Ukrainian civilians were killed in Russian attacks over the past day, regional authorities said on Wednesday.
In the Donetsk region, two people were killed in the village of Berestok. Elsewhere, an 80-year-old man and 70-year-old woman were killed in Nechvolodivka, in the Kharkiv region.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched a ballistic missile and 145 drones in its air attack, 80 of which were shot down by air defences while another 42 disappeared without causing damage.
The drones were fired from the Russian cities of Kursk, Bryansk, Orel, Shatalovo, Millerovo, and Primorsk-Akhtarsk, the air force added.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has expressed hope that Russia will agree to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the US and Ukraine, in a phone call with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ms Meloni and Mr Erdogan spoke on Tuesday and discussed the diplomatic prospects of Volodymyr Zelensky’s scheduled visit to Turkey – which he has called for Russian president Vladimir Putin to join.
She told the Turkish president that Russia is expected to respond positively to an invitation for high-level negotiations and will agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The EU is set to apply high tariffs on imports from Ukraine within weeks, hitting the Kyiv economy at a crucial time in its fight against Russian aggression, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The proposal, recently sent to EU member states, would drastically cut the tariff free quotas of agricultural products a lifeline for Ukraine’s farmers and budget, FT said.
Ukraine has destroyed one of Russia’s key defence anti-aircraft missile system and a rocket launcher, its military officials said yesterday.
A drone attack by Ukrainian Special Operations Forces destroyed a Russian Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system and a Uragan-1 multiple launch rocket system (MLSR), its unit said in a statement.
The attack that took place yesterday was part of a reconnaissance strike in an unspecified frontline sector where they detected the Buk-M3 and the Uragan-1 on combat duty, the unit said.
The Ukrainian forces fired attack drones and hit the targets which destroyed the Buk-M3 system and its ammunition. Ukrainian military officials did not specify the time of the attack.
The Kremlin has declined to comment on whether Vladimir Putin will travel to Turkey to attend peace talks with Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.
Mr Putin proposed on Sunday that direct talks with Ukraine should take place, and – after US president Donald Trump publicly told Mr Zelensky to accept, the Ukrainian president said that he would go but that Mr Putin should attend in person too.
“The Russian side continues to prepare for the negotiations,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the talks and Mr Zelensky’s demand that Mr Putin attend.
“We are not going to comment any more yet.”
When asked directly who would represent Russia at the talks, Mr Peskov said: “As soon as the president sees fit, we will announce it.”
All eyes are finally turning to Istanbul this week as world leaders seek to end Russia’s three-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine where a rare meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin is required to take place.
Who is coming to Istanbul tomorrow?
From Ukraine:
Mr Zelenskyy said yesterday that he will meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, and wait there. If the Russian leader Mr Putin chooses Istanbul for the meeting, Mr Zelensky said, then he and Mr Erdogan will travel there.
Mr Zelensky added that he will travel to Turkey even if Mr Putin does not come for talks and will fly at a moment’s notice if the Russian president shows up.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Mr Zelensky will only sit down with the Russian president and no one else for talks aimed at ending Ukraine war.
If Mr Putin doesn’t show up, European and US leaders should follow through with additional sanctions against Russia, he added.
From Russia:
The Kremlin has refused to confirm who’s going to Turkey and whether it will include Mr Putin.
Pressed by reporters on who will represent Russia in Istanbul, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to say, stressing that Mr Putin had outlined Russia’s position clearly enough.
From the US:
Mr Trump has said he is optimistic about the talks and that there is “the potential for a good meeting” between Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky.
He added he was “thinking about flying over” after his visit to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates but later said secretary of state Marco Rubio and others from the US will go to Turkey for the talks.
Russian deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has claimed that Russia is ready for serious talks on Ukraine – but that Moscow doubts Kyiv is ready for negotiation.
“It is premature to make predictions,” Mr Ryabkov was quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying. “The question should be addressed to the sponsors of the Kyiv regime and Kyiv itself: are they ready to negotiate?”
“We have a firm impression that with the current approach, the word that can characterise the line of these figures is non-agreement,” state news agency Tass quoted him as saying.
Mr Ryabkov said the realities “on the ground” in the context of the conflict in Ukraine should be recognised, including the incorporation of what Moscow calls “new territories” into Russia, RIA reported.
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says Trump needs to realise Putin ‘lies’ to him ahead of Turkey talks – The Independent
