US President Donald Trump will join the talks in Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin does, US special envoy Keith Kellogg has said.
“We’re hoping President Putin shows up as well, and then President Trump will be there. This could be an absolutely incredible meeting,” Kellog said.
“We can get peace, I really believe, pretty fast if all three leaders sit down and talk,” she said.
Ukraine and Russia have both said that their delegations will travel for talks in Istanbul.
However, Russia has not yet said who will fly to Istanbul, only that it would be announced “as soon as (Putin) deems it necessary”.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained that he will go to Istanbul only if Putin does.
“If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point (showing) that he does not want to end the war. Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky told reporters that he would first meet Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks and would then head to Istanbul if Putin also arrives there.
Putin and Zelensky have not met themselves since December 2019.
The direct talks between the two countries last took place in Istanbul in March 2022, in the early weeks of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Putin had initially called for direct talks in Istanbul “without pre-conditions”, before Zelensky announced that he would travel to Turkey and meet the Russian president.
US President Donald Trump, who is in Saudi Arabia, has hinted that he could fly to Istanbul himself.
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump, who is in Saudi Arabia, met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday and urged him to normalise his ties with Israel.
