Peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are set to begin in Turkey Thursday, but Russia's president won't be there. The Kremlin confirmed that rather than Vladimir Putin, it will be sending Vladimir Medinsky to head up its delegation. The Guardian refers to Medinsky as a "hardline" Putin aide who also led the last, and only, round of direct talks between the two countries, in 2022. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has directly called for his Russian counterpart to attend Thursday's talks, and said he'd meet with Putin face to face if he did, the BBC reports. He said he would not attend the negotiations if Putin, whom he has only met in person in December 2019, did not.
US President Trump also suggested he'd be at the talks if Putin attended, but after Putin's absence was reported, US officials said Trump would also not be there. Also absent from the talks are Russia's top two diplomats, Yuri Ushakov and Sergei Lavrov, and the BBC notes that Medinsky's inclusion indicates Russia will likely seek "maximalist" demands that didn't work during the 2022 talks, such as the limiting of Ukraine's military. The US delegation to the Russia-Ukraine talks will reportedly include high-level diplomats; Secretary of State Marco Rubio is already in Turkey. Zelensky will reportedly be in the Turkish capital to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instead. (More Vladimir Putin stories.)
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