Putin Will Not Attend Ukraine Peace Talks in Turkey, Russia Sends Lower-Level Delegation

The Kremlin has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will not attend upcoming peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey, despite a formal invitation from Kyiv. Instead, Moscow will send a lower-level delegation led by officials who previously participated in stalled negotiations.

After days of speculation, Russia on Tuesday released the official list of delegates traveling to Istanbul for talks with Ukrainian counterparts. The delegation will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a hardline aide to Putin and former culture minister who led Russia’s negotiating team in 2022. He will be joined by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin, and GRU intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.

Additional military, diplomatic, and civilian experts will accompany the group, according to Russian state media. Notably absent from the delegation are Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov—both of whom have led past rounds of talks with the United States. President Putin will not be attending the summit.

Ukraine expressed disappointment with Moscow’s decision. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Medinsky was “not the right person” to discuss fundamental issues and confirmed that Zelensky would not meet with him. “This is not the format of dialogue Ukraine is looking for,” Podolyak said.

Ukrainian media reported that Zelensky is expected to arrive in Istanbul along with senior officials including Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha. However, Zelensky reportedly plans to finalize the makeup of Ukraine’s delegation upon arrival.

Putin had originally proposed the Istanbul talks on May 10, stating that Russia is committed to “serious negotiations” aimed at addressing the root causes of the war. Zelensky responded by saying Ukraine is ready for direct dialogue and requested a face-to-face meeting with Putin in Turkey.

Earlier this week, Zelensky warned that Putin’s absence from the summit would signal a lack of genuine interest in peace. “I’ll wait to see who Russia sends before deciding how Ukraine will proceed,” he said.

The upcoming summit marks the first attempt at direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since early 2022, when negotiations in Istanbul appeared to yield a draft agreement. Those talks ultimately collapsed after Zelensky suspended dialogue in April of that year.

(Sources: AFP, RT)

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