Russian delegation arrives in Istanbul

ISTANBUL — A Russian delegation landed in Istanbul on Thursday for the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in more than three years, Russian state media reported, but without President Vladimir Putin.

Putin was not included on the list of Moscow's negotiating team published by the Kremlin late on Wednesday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had challenged Putin to meet him in person at the talks.

A Ukrainian official told AFP that Zelensky planned to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, not Istanbul, later on Thursday, and only then would he decide his approach to the talks.

"The president starts his visit with Erdogan in Ankara and only then will the president decide on the next steps," the official said, after Russian state media reported Moscow's delegation had landed in Istanbul for the planned talks.

AFP reporters at the Dolmabahce Palace, where the talks are rumored to be taking place, saw hundreds of journalists waiting outside.

No time has been set for talks between officials from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Thursday.

"No time has been set for a meeting yet. In this respect, there is no question of a postponement," the source said.

US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a swift end to the conflict, floated the possibility of attending the talks, and had called on Putin to turn up for the talks.

His Secretary of State Marco Rubio was to travel to Istanbul on Friday "for meetings with the European counterparts to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and other regional issues of mutual concern", the State Department said.

Trump said on Thursday he could still travel to Turkiye if the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine make progress.

"You know, if something happened, I'd go on Friday," Trump said in Qatar, as a Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul for the talks without Putin.

Zelensky had been insisting on Putin's presence at the talks.

"This is his war … Therefore, the negotiations should be with him," he said in one statement.

Despite the flurry of diplomacy in a bid to end the conflict, Moscow and Kyiv's positions remain far apart and there has been little sign either is willing to make concessions.

Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister, leads the Russian delegation.

Ukraine has not named its delegation yet. Its Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was in Turkiye, meeting NATO foreign ministers at a gathering in Antalya.

Putin held a briefing with his negotiating team and Russia's top foreign policy and defense officials in Moscow on Wednesday before they departed for Istanbul, the Kremlin said.

Agencies via Xinhua