Senior U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio says expectations are low for the upcoming Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Turkey — and that real progress can only happen if Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet face-to-face.
“I don’t think we’re going to see any meaningful progress here until President Trump and President Putin engage directly on this issue,” he said after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in southern Turkey.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine would send a delegation to the talks in Istanbul, but criticized the Russian delegation as being of a “low level.” Heading the Russian team is presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who insisted that the Kremlin’s delegation had “all the necessary authority.”
Earlier in the day, Trump — who is currently visiting the Middle East — also suggested that significant progress in peace negotiations would be impossible unless he and Putin met in person.
Asked by the BBC aboard Air Force One whether he was disappointed by the level of the Russian delegation, he said: “Look, nothing’s going to happen until I meet with Putin.”
“He wouldn’t go unless I was there, and I don’t believe anything is going to happen — whether people like it or not — until he and I meet,” he added. “But we have to resolve this, because too many people are dying.”
Trump said he would attend the talks in Turkey on Friday if it were “appropriate,” but later suggested he might return to Washington instead. Delegations from Turkey, the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia were scheduled to meet in Istanbul on Thursday for the first face-to-face Ukraine-Russia talks since 2022. By Thursday evening, no time had been set for the meetings. Some reports suggest they may now take place on Friday.
