With only a few hours to go until the start of what was slated as the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in years – talks that Vladimir Putin himself called – it still wasn’t clear if the Russian president would actually show up.
For weeks, he has dismissed Ukraine’s proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, backed by the US and Europe, to allow both sides to start negotiations on how to end Europe’s biggest war since World War Two.
Instead, the Russian leader challenged Volodymyr Zelensky to direct talks in Istanbul “without any preconditions” on Thursday. If they go ahead, it would be the first meeting between the leaders since December 2019.
After brief initial reticence – and a few goading social media posts by Donald Trump – the Ukrainian leader called Moscow’s bluff by confirming that he will indeed attend in person.
But by Wednesday afternoon, Putin was still a “maybe” for the meeting he had so loudly called for. There was no clear information about whether he would be attending from Moscow’s side, with his spokesman teasing that the full delegation would be revealed on Wednesday night.
In Ukraine, senior officials said this all proved it was posture and pantomime.
“I’m sure that they will play a trick. Someone will show up, but not Putin,” one senior source said. “That’s not their intention: to be open, transparent, direct, and finish the war.
“Putin is not strong in direct negotiations. He’s strong in playing games. He will play a card.”
Zelensky intends to attend, even if that means hosting an empty chair, in a powerful message to the world, the source says.
“That will show to the US, it’ll show to Europe again, Russians do not want to negotiate. A significant part of our strategy is to show our partners – European and across the ocean – that we are very much a team player.
“You asked us to do more on European ground. Here we are: all major European leaders, fully aligned, fully together.
“The ceasefire is not happening, but [Putin] offers direct negotiations? We are ready for that.”
Earlier this week, Trump urged Ukraine to attend the talks, writing on social media that it should agree to the Turkey meeting “IMMEDIATELY”.
All eyes remain trained on Istanbul to see if Putin will yield to Trump – and prove who wants peace more.
