Vladimir Putin will not travel to Turkey and is instead sending the deputy foreign affairs and defence ministers, the head of his military intelligence, and the presidential aide, who will lead the delegation,

If Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul for negotiations on the war in Ukraine, nothing will come of it. It will be yet another attempt by the Kremlin to influence the peace talks, Ukrainian political analyst Taras Zahorodniy says in an interview on the YouTube channel of RBC-Ukraine.

During a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskyy suggested holding the meeting in Ankara. However, the Ukrainian president said that if Putin agrees to come, he is ready to meet in Istanbul.

For days, President Donald Trump repeatedly floated the possibility of scrapping his Middle East travel schedule — one his team meticulously crafted for weeks — and adding a stop to personally mediate Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Turkey.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is unlikely to participate in negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, scheduled for May 15, according to Kommersant. The Russian outlet does not specify who exactly provided this information.