The U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to join peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which could take place this Thursday in Turkey. According to The Financial Times, the unexpected proposal was warmly received by Kyiv and marked a new phase in international efforts to resolve the ongoing war.
Trump, who is scheduled to visit Gulf countries this week — including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar — did not rule out the possibility of detouring to Turkey if the situation seems ripe for a breakthrough.
“I don’t know where I’ll be on Thursday — I’ve got so many meetings. But I was thinking about maybe flying over there,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “There’s a possibility, I guess, if I think something could really happen. But we’ve got to get it done.”
Trump has previously referred to the idea of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv as a “potentially great day for both countries.” His initiative received an immediate endorsement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Türkiye,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “This is the right idea. We can change a lot.”
Intensified International Pressure and Russia’s Rejection of Ultimatums
Trump’s statement came amid a surge in diplomatic activity, including a weekend of high-level meetings in Kyiv. Zelenskyy met with the leaders of Germany, the UK, France, and Poland. Following these talks, the allied nations called on Russia to implement an unconditional 30-day ceasefire beginning Monday or face “massive” new sanctions.
As The Financial Times reports, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, publicly supported the ceasefire proposal. Trump himself remained more cautious in public remarks but responded to Moscow’s offer of talks in Istanbul by urging Kyiv not to miss the opportunity:
“Ukraine should agree to this IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote on his social network Truth Social. “At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible. If it is not, European leaders and the U.S. will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!”
He added that he was “starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin.”
Moscow’s reaction came on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to holding talks with Kyiv in Istanbul on Thursday “without any preconditions.” It remained unclear whether he would attend in person. Furthermore, Putin rejected the Western ceasefire demand, calling it an “ultimatum.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated that any ceasefire discussion must be preceded by talks on the “root causes” of the conflict.
Nonetheless, Zelenskyy accepted the idea of talks and directly challenged Putin:
“I will be in Turkey this Thursday. I hope this time, Putin won’t look for excuses as to why he can’t make it. We are ready to talk, to end this war,” the Ukrainian president said.
If the meeting takes place, it will be only the second time that Zelenskyy and Putin have met face-to-face. The first encounter was in Paris in December 2019, but the talks failed to produce a peace plan for the Kremlin-instigated conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not clarify whether Putin would attend. However, he confirmed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had agreed in a Sunday phone call with Putin to host the meeting in Istanbul. Peskov reiterated that Russia found the Western ceasefire proposal unacceptable:
“This language of ultimatums is not acceptable for Russia. You cannot speak to Russia in this way,” he said.
Turkey Again Emerges as a Key Diplomatic Mediator
Ukraine, for its part, made it clear it is ready for talks under any circumstances. Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, told Ukrainian media that the country “will not give Russia a reason to accuse us of disrupting the peace process.”
As The Financial Times notes, Turkey previously hosted negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion began. But those talks collapsed after revelations that Russian forces had committed massacres in Bucha, near Kyiv — acts that Zelenskyy denounced as war crimes.
President Erdoğan, who has pursued what he calls a “balanced” policy toward the conflict, remains one of the few global leaders with working relationships on both sides. Turkey maintains diplomatic and trade relations with Moscow while also supplying military aid to Kyiv, including its widely known Bayraktar drones.
This latest push for peace comes amid a new Russian spring offensive. According to Deep State, a Ukrainian analytical group closely tied to the Ministry of Defense, Russian forces launched more attacks during the unilateral “ceasefire” from May 8–10 than they did during the same period in April — about 155 separate strikes per day.
“There was no ceasefire on any front,” the group reported.
The outcome of the proposed talks remains uncertain. But if Trump does travel to Turkey and the talks go ahead, the meeting could mark a turning point — both in the war and in global diplomacy.
This article was prepared based on materials published by The Financial Times. The author does not claim authorship of the original text but presents their interpretation of the content for informational purposes.
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