Zelenskyy confirms May 15 visit to Turkey, open to meeting with Putin

He made this statement at a press conference.

“I will be in Turkey. President Erdogan will be there. Everyone is ready for a meet with the Russian leader. Especially since it was his initiative,” Zelenskyy emphasized.

According to the Ukrainian president, he is considering the outcome in any case, with a ceasefire being the top priority.

“An unconditional ceasefire today, based on the experience of all these days and months, cannot be ensured by anyone from Russia except Putin,” he emphasized.

At the same time, Zelenskyy stressed that if Putin comes to Istanbul, both he and Erdogan will meet with him.

The Ukrainian President also noted that he would be visiting Turkey with a delegation, but did not specify its members.

Background

In a nighttime address on May 11, Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed he was ready for direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey next week, but he dismissed the idea of a 30-day truce. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would keep working with both sides and predicted that the coming week would be “great.”

On May 12, the German government announced that if Russia did not agree to ceasefire in Ukraine by the end of the day, European partners would begin preparations for new sanctions. In contrast, the Kremlin stated that “the language of ultimatums is unacceptable for Russia.”

Advisor to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would not meet with any Russian representative other than Vladimir Putin in Turkey on May 15.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the talks in Istanbul with Kyiv should recognize the "realities on the ground," including Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.