Zelenskiy slams Russia’s “decorative” delegation at Turkish-hosted peace talks, while Trump and Rubio cast doubt on progress without a U.S.-Russia summit

ISTANBUL/ANKARA, May 16, 2025 — Hopes for progress in the long-stalled Putin Zelenskiy talks dimmed on Thursday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to attend peace negotiations in Turkey, dealing a blow to the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in over three years.

Instead of joining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for face-to-face discussions, Putin sent a lower-level delegation led by his presidential adviser and former culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky — a figure Zelenskiy dismissed as purely symbolic. “This is personal disrespect — to me, to Erdogan, to Trump,” Zelenskiy declared after a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

Zelenskiy refused to travel to Istanbul, citing Putin’s absence and the lack of a serious agenda. He announced Ukraine’s delegation would be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and include key military and intelligence officials. Their mandate: to push for an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

Putin, however, insisted on preliminary talks to establish the terms of a ceasefire, raising suspicions that the Kremlin intends to use any pause in hostilities to reinforce its battlefield advantage. Russian forces now occupy nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and continue to make gains, claiming two new settlements in Donetsk this week.

The Istanbul talks mark the first direct engagement between the two nations since negotiations collapsed in March 2022. Despite the symbolic significance, the absence of top-level leadership and sharply diverging agendas cast doubt over any real progress.

U.S. President Donald Trump, now back in office, added to the diplomatic fog. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he declared, “Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.” Trump’s stance echoed throughout Antalya, where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed expectations, calling the current setup a “logjam” and warning that no breakthrough was likely without direct engagement between Washington and Moscow.

Rubio confirmed he would meet Ukraine’s delegation and Turkey’s foreign minister on Friday but reiterated that the U.S. had “low expectations” for the talks.

As more than 200 journalists waited outside Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, Russia’s negotiators remained alone, having met only with Turkish diplomats on Thursday evening. “We are ready to work,” said Medinsky via a Telegram video, following what he called “productive” discussions with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The absence of high-level commitment from Moscow and Kyiv points to deep scepticism on both sides. Zelenskiy accused Russia of undermining the process from the outset, while Russian officials accused Ukraine of “putting on a show.”

Behind the optics lies a brutal reality: more than three years into the war, and after hundreds of thousands of casualties, the gap between the warring sides remains vast. Putin demands Ukraine relinquish claims to occupied territories, abandon aspirations to join NATO, and adopt a stance of neutrality — all red lines for Kyiv.

Ukraine, in turn, seeks robust security guarantees from the West and rejects any peace plan that amounts to surrender.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm whether Putin would attend future talks. “What kind of participation will be required further, at what level? It is too early to say now,” he said.

With Trump and Putin expressing vague willingness to meet, but with no date set, many observers see this week’s talks as little more than diplomatic theatre. Russia’s Medinsky himself referred to the meetings as a continuation of the 2022 negotiations, a process Ukraine insists cannot be repeated on such unfavourable terms.

Until real political will emerges — especially from Moscow and Washington — the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two looks set to grind on.