SETTING THE TONE
Russia continued its assaults within the hours forward of the talks, with Kyiv saying Moscow’s shelling on Friday morning killed a lady within the frontline city of Kupiansk.
Kyiv additionally mentioned one other lady in her 50s was killed within the Dnipropetrovsk area, whereas Moscow mentioned it downed 65 Ukrainian drones in a single day.
Trump, who’s eager to push Russia and Ukraine in direction of a peace settlement, mentioned it was “apparent” Putin would by no means attend the talks.
“Clearly he wasn’t going to go,” he advised reporters.
“He was going to go, however he thought I used to be going to go. He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there.”
Setting the tone forward of the assembly, Zelenskyy on Thursday mentioned Russia had despatched a “dummy” delegation, whereas Russian international ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova known as the Ukrainian president a “clown” and “loser”.
Exterior the Russian consulate in Istanbul, Medinsky advised reporters that Russia noticed the talks as a continuation of failed 2022 negotiations and that he was prepared for “attainable compromises”.
“The delegation is dedicated to a constructive method, to discovering attainable options and factors of contact. The aim of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian facet is to ultimately set up long-term peace by eliminating the basis causes of the battle,” he mentioned.
Zelenskyy mentioned a ceasefire was his group’s high precedence for the talks.
After a gathering with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskyy mentioned that Russia was “not taking the actual negotiations very significantly” however that he was sending a high-level delegation “out of respect” for Erdogan and Trump.
“AVOIDING PEACE”
Rubio mentioned he would meet in Istanbul with Ukrainian International Minister Andriy Sybiga and {that a} lower-level US official would meet the Russians.
Forward of the deliberate talks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned Putin “should pay the value for avoiding peace” as he ready to attend a European Political Group (EPC) assembly in Albania on Friday.
The EPC, which brings collectively the members of the European Union and 20 different international locations, was established in 2022 on the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Starmer and Macron will likely be joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO chief Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Fee.
Kyiv and its European allies had known as for Russia to comply with a 30-day ceasefire earlier than any negotiations, however Moscow rejected the proposal.
Russia needs Ukraine to make large territorial concessions, giving up much more land than it has misplaced on the battlefield, and has additionally at instances sought the elimination of Zelenskyy, pledges of navy neutrality and limits on Ukraine’s military.
Kyiv and the West reject these calls however Zelenskyy has conceded that Ukraine may solely get again some territory by way of diplomatic means.
