United States President Donald Trump was categorical that "nothing will happen" regarding the resolution of the crisis in Ukraine until he and his Russian counterpart "get together" to discuss it.
Speaking to the press aboard Air Force One en route from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates, he said that Putin had decided not to attend the ongoing peace talks with Ukraine after learning that Trump would also not be attending.
"But we're going to have to resolve it because too many people are dying," the American leader stressed.
Earlier, during a roundtable with businessmen in Qatar, Trump noted that "I actually said to myself, "Why would he go if I'm not going?" ... I would have gone, but I didn't plan it and I said to myself: "I don't think he will go if I don't go".
Earlier, the US president said he was ready to go to Turkey tomorrow if the direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that have begun show progress.
Zelensky is in Ankara and will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his decision on whether and how to join the negotiations with Russia will depend on this meeting. He has emphasized that he will negotiate only in Putin's personal presence, which puts an additional question mark over the format of the talks.
On the Moscow side, the situation is even more uncertain. The Kremlin officially confirmed that Vladimir Putin will not participate in the meeting in Istanbul. According to the president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, such a visit is not planned, and the name of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also been dropped as a possible participant.
Late yesterday, Putin determined the composition of the Russian delegation, but it only includes technical personnel. It is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led the delegation for the negotiations in Istanbul in 2022.