US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not take part in the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv on Thursday.
Putin proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Turkey on Sunday “without conditions”, although he would no longer visit that he would participate.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said that the delegation would include the presidential advisor Vladimir Medinsky and the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Fomin.
A US official then said Trump did not take part – days after he thought about the trip.
The lack of Russian and US presidents lowers the expectations of a big breakthrough in the war that Russia began in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had challenged Putin “if he is not afraid” to show Trump in an obvious competition to show Trump, who wants more peace.
Zelenskyy was on his way to Turkey, said a Ukrainian official on Wednesday. Previously, Zelenskyy had said that he would only take part in the negotiations if Putin were there.
The US representative Jim Himes said CNN that he had no reason for Trump – or Zelenskyy – in Turkey if Putin was not there.
“I think everyone understands that Putin is not interested in real peace negotiations,” said Himes, the ruined democrat in the Secret Service Committee of the US representative house.
The Democrat now said “the real question” is how Trump should adapt the US farming to Russia.
Trump wants the two sides to register up to a 30-day ceasefire to pause the largest country war in Europe since World War II, and a Russian legislator said on Wednesday that there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war.
Zelenskyy supports an immediate 30-day armistice, but Putin said he wanted to start discussions first that could be discussed in which the details of such an armistice could be discussed.
Threat from more sanctions
Trump, who is increasingly frustrated with Russia and Ukraine when he tries to drive her to a peace settlement, said that he “always” always “after” secondary sanctions against Moscow “if he thought it would block the process.
US officials spoke about possible financial sanctions and secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian oil. Western European leaders have also threatened Russia with further sanctions if the fights in Ukraine have no progress.
Domitilla Sagramoso, an expert in Russian foreign and security policy, issues questions of how long Moscow can maintain his war, and there are some signs that it decides from the sanctions that are already applicable.
“Every additional pressure is problematic for the Kremlin, and this explains why Russia tries to raise the sanctions in all negotiations,” Sagramoso, a high -ranking lecturer in security and development at King’s College London, told German Welle from Germany.
But sanctions still have to end the war.
“This kind of dream that Russia will collapse tomorrow because no sanctions will be imposed will not happen early enough,” said Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the new school in New York, to CBS News on Wednesday.
A Ukrainian diplomatic source announced Reuters on Wednesday that the leadership of Ukraine would decide on her next steps for peace talks in Turkey as soon as there was clarity about Putin’s participation.
Before Trump returned to the Oval Office, he had said several times that he could end the war in 24 hours. The war continues more than three months after his new presidency.
The war, which recently exceeded the three -year brand, used ditches and tanks as well as the extensive use of drones from both sides.
The UN says that at least 12,700 civilians were killed and more than 30,000 more were injured since Russia initiated its full invasion of its neighbor.
