Ukrainian President Zelensky will attend peace negotiations in Istanbul today but he is being stood up by both Russian President Putin and U.S. President Trump.
Zelensky has been begging both leaders to come on Thursday but President Trump’s visit to the Middle East was not altered to oblige this request. President Putin is sending a Russia’s delegation led by Kremlin Aide Vladimir Medinsky. The delegation will also include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. No Putin but it is the first time that Ukraine has met directly with Russian representatives since early 2022 when the West tanked their initial peace deal.
There is also that little problem that in 2022 Zelensky signed a law forbidding peace negotiations with Russia. How is he going to get around that? Easy: He says it doesn’t apply to him. That’s not true but he says a lot of dumb things.
The United States will not have representatives at this meeting. U.S. negotiators are planning to go to Istanbul on Friday, one day after the meeting.
