President Donald Trump kept the door open to showing up to the Russia-Ukraine negotiations that are expected to happen in Turkey on Thursday.
‘I was thinking about going, but it’s very tough because of what we’re doing today and tomorrow. But you know, if something happened, I’d go on Friday if it was appropriate,’ Trump said.
The status of the peace talks is unclear. Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to attending, sending aides and deputy ministers instead of going himself. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is headed to Turkey but said he wouldn’t attend the high-stakes talks unless Putin was there as well.
Trump – who has said Putin should make the trip – urged the leaders to come to a peace deal.
‘We we have people right now negotiating, I just hope Russia and Ukraine are able to do something. It has to stop,’ he said.
President Donald Trump said he is open to attending the Russian-Ukraine peace talks in Turkey
The president is in Doha, Qatar, the second stop of his three-country tour of the Middle East.
He attended a business roundtable in Doha Thursday morning and then was headed to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar to address an audience of U.S. troops.
The president is slated to fly from the air base to the United Arab Emirates for his third and final state visit and dinner of the trip.
He’s due to fly back to Washington, D.C. mid-day Friday – though could divert Air Force One and head to Turkey instead.
The United States has a delegation in Istanbul, which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who was on hand for a portion of Trump’s Middle East swing – and envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
Russia planned to send presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, Reuters reported.
Trump has demanded that Russia and Ukraine agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Zelensky was on board with a ceasefire, though Putin was resistant, saying he wanted the talks to start first, so ceasefire terms could be negotiated.
The Ukrainian president, who is scheduled to meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday, had said earlier this week he was not prepared to talk to anyone on the Russian side except Putin, and goaded the Kremlin leader by questioning if he was brave enough to show up.
The Kremlin says Putin – who is also under threat of an additional tightening of European sanctions to ‘suffocate’ Russia’s economy – does not respond to ultimatums.
The two sides last held face-to-face talks – also in Istanbul – in March 2022, only weeks after Putin sent his army into Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a delegation to the peace talks in Turkey instead of attending himself
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he won’t attend the peace talks unless Putin is there
For the past week, Trump has been mulling going to Turkey himself and said he was worried Putin wouldn’t show up if he didn’t attend.
‘I don’t know if he’s showing up. I know he would like me to be there. And that’s a possibility,’ the president told reporters on Air Force One Wednesday as he traveled from Saudi Arabia to Doha.
‘I’ve been thinking about that. Now tomorrow, we’re all booked out, you understand that. We’re going to UAE tomorrow. So we have a very full situation. Now that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it to save a lot of lives and come back. But yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there.’
The president has shown increased impatience with Putin and has been frustrated no peace deal is at hand.
