Trump: Talks won't move forward without a face-to-face meeting with Putin

US President Donald Trump has said that the process of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia will not move forward until he personally meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said this in a conversation with journalists, the audio of which was released by the White House.

When asked about the level of representation of the Russian delegation in Istanbul, Donald Trump said that he had no information about it, so he could not be disappointed. At the same time, he stressed: «Nothing will happen until Putin and I meet».

On 15 May, the Kremlin said that a meeting with Donald Trump was not planned in the near future. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitrii Peskov said that such an issue had not yet been discussed, according to Russian news outlet «RBC».

Earlier, Donald Trump also commented on Putin's absence at the talks in Turkey, saying that it was expected: Putin had no reason to go if Trump was not there.

Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey

On 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his desire to resume direct talks with Ukraine, which were suspended at the end of 2022. He also said that he planned to address Turkish President Recep Erdogan with a proposal to organise the talks.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin' s proposal for direct talks, calling it a «good sign». However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that a ceasefire was needed first to really start a dialogue with Russia. He later stressed that he was looking forward to direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey.

In addition, Turkish President Recep Erdogan accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to hold talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on 15 May.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that he had no information on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the talks. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of his own participation in the event.

Late in the evening of 14 May, the Kremlin approved the official list of Russian representatives to participate in peace talks with Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is not among the delegates.

On the day of the talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian delegation had arrived in Ankara in full force and was ready for real solutions to achieve a just peace. Instead, the composition of the Russian delegation is still unknown and, according to the head of state, resembles «a prop level».