Zelenskyy meets Erdoğan in Ankara

Ukrinform correspondent Olha Budnyk reported Zelenskyy’s arrival on Espreso.

According to the president, a high-level Ukrainian delegation also arrived in Turkey — including officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the President, the military, and all intelligence agencies.

"I want to thank President Erdogan for organizing the meeting, for the chance to hold direct talks... We’ll start with a meeting with Erdogan and a broad Turkish delegation. We’re also in contact with the American side," Zelenskyy said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy called the Russian delegation that arrived for talks “fake.”

"We’ll decide what to do and what our next steps will be after the conversation with President Erdogan. I think we’ll have a few hours for a serious talk and important decisions. We need to understand what kind of Russian delegation this is, what their mandate is. Whether they are even capable of deciding anything on their own," the President of Ukraine added.

At 1:45 p.m., the Presidential Administration confirmed that Zelenskyy's meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdogan had begun.

Around 4:30 p.m., the President’s Office announced that the meeting between the two presidents had ended.

Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul

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 a 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. Later, Zelenskyy himself confirmed his personal visit to Turkey for a meeting with Putin.

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

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if his meeting with the Russian leader takes place on May 15 in Turkey, the main topics of discussion will be a complete ceasefire and a full exchange of prisoners of war.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not be present during the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Turkey on May 15.