Source: The Guardian | Original Published At: 2025-05-13 07:28:00 UTC
Key Points
- Zelenskyy to meet Erdoğan in Turkey and await Putin's potential participation in peace talks
- Zelenskyy states Putin's attendance is critical to ending the war; absence signals rejection of diplomacy
- China and Brazil (BRICS members) endorse direct Ukraine-Russia negotiations
- Kremlin declines to comment on Turkey talks preparations
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would fly to Turkey on Thursday to meet the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and wait to see if Russian president Vladimir Putin decides to join them for peace talks.
He explained that because ‘absolutely everything in Russia’ depends on Putin, the only way to secure a ceasefire and an end to the war was through direct talks with him, Reuters reported. ‘If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,’ he said, AP reported. Nevertheless, Zelenskyy insisted he would still do ‘everything to ensure this meeting takes place,’ AFP reported. Zelenskyy said that if the talks failed, he would expect ‘strong sanctions’ from the United States and European Union as it would show that Russia was not ready for diplomacy.
China, Brazil back direct Ukraine-Russia talks: The leaders of China and Brazil, members with Russia of the BRICS grouping of big emerging economies, said in a joint statement they hoped direct dialogue could begin as soon as possible and that they welcomed Putin’s proposal to open negotiations, Reuters reported.
Putin skipping Turkey talks would be ‘final signal’ of Moscow intent, Zelenskyy’s top aide says: ‘If Vladimir Putin refuses to come to Turkey, it will be the final signal that Russia does not want to end this war, that Russia is not willing and not ready for any negotiations,’ Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said in a statement reported by AFP.
Kremlin says no comment on Turkey talks: ‘The Russian side continues to prepare for the talks scheduled for Thursday. That is all we can say at this point. We do not intend to comment further at this time,’ Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters as quoted by AFP.